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Vito and Matthew De Georgehttp://uniontally.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Christopher)Blogger474125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-2574609454997244563Fri, 18 Nov 2016 00:57:00 +00002016-11-17T19:57:20.948-05:00Chris PontiusMLSMLS Comeback Player of the YearPhiladelphia UnionSteve BirnbaumConsistency is Pontius's secret to comeback success<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T8vNgdcZfrw/WC5Rvxbb3AI/AAAAAAAABK4/5gi2-w4npXk0NHyQu-IqNsSiLsfmuwP7QCLcB/s1600/AR-161119721.jpg%2526maxh%253D400%2526maxw%253D667.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T8vNgdcZfrw/WC5Rvxbb3AI/AAAAAAAABK4/5gi2-w4npXk0NHyQu-IqNsSiLsfmuwP7QCLcB/s400/AR-161119721.jpg%2526maxh%253D400%2526maxw%253D667.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Time to heal and consistency helped Chris Pontius launch <br />his Comeback Player of the Year season in 2016. <br />(Times File)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Chris Pontius’s </b>first reaction two weeks ago <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsdoctormd/status/793843775994929153" target="_blank">at being named a finalist</a> for the MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award struck at the fundamental conflict in the award: It’s nice to win, sure, but you’d rather avoid being in a position to. <br /><br />That contradiction is fitting, since it informs how Pontius got to a point where the <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20161116/unions-pontius-is-mls-comeback-player-of-year" target="_blank">2016 award was bestowed on him Wednesday</a>. By not constantly considering the injuries that had dogged him for the better part of three years, Pontius finally moved past them to compile a career season. <br /><br />“I tried to not think about it,” Pontius said Thursday by phone. “Late on in the season, maybe 27 games in, I was like, ‘holy cow, I haven’t missed a game yet.’ And it was just trying to (think), let’s keep this thing going, not thinking about it. I just was like, let’s keep this thing going and doing what I was doing, just week by week and focusing on the week ahead.” <br /><br />For the first time since 2012, Pontius enjoyed a season not defined by injuries. He scored a career-high tying 12 goals to go with a career-best six assists. Including the U.S. Open Cup, he bagged 14 goals. The winger also set career marks in games played, starts and minutes. <br /><br />In his first season with the Union, Pontius doubled his combined goal total from 2013-15. <br /><br />And as Pontius explained Thursday, from out on the golf course with former D.C. United teammate and roommate <b>Steve Birnbaum, </b>one of the keys to a change in outcome was consistency of approach. <a name='more'></a><br />“Nothing’s different. I honestly think my body just settled down,” Pontius said. “It was two years post-surgery, and I think my body just settled down and the inflammation was down. We train a lot in Philly. I would say we spend more time on the field than any other team in the league, so my body had to put up with a lot this year and responded well.’ <br /><br />After an All-Star and Best XI campaign in 2012, hamstring surgery brought a premature end to his 2013 season and limited him to just three starts in 2014. While Philadelphia, which acquired Pontius in December, represented a fresh start, time and distance from his injuries were the most important factors in his turnaround. <br /><br />That’s why the 29-year-old also credited his former club in helping achieve this accolade. <br /><br />“It’s nice to be recognized for it,” Pontius said. “Like I said before, it’s an award I don’t plan on being up for ever again. But it’s nice, and it’s a credit to all the people around me who helped me stay healthy all year. And it goes back to my time in D.C. and all the people that put in the work; it’s just unfortunate that I wasn’t able to stay as healthy as I wanted to be and contribute as much as I would’ve liked.”http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/11/consistency-is-pontiuss-secret-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-4936607488863993378Wed, 09 Nov 2016 22:34:00 +00002016-11-09T17:34:13.649-05:00Corben BoneDavid MyrieDzenan CaticGilbertoJorge PerlazaJuan Diego GonzalezKevin KratzPhiladelphia UnionRaymond LeeStephen OkaiToni StahlThe 2016 Stephen Okai Award goes to ... Kevin Kratz <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qm0VmbkAEeQ/WCOj3GStQAI/AAAAAAAABKY/uyfZ-SK1MagooGc3t8txwXrifx48a5VPQCLcB/s1600/AP_100721048567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qm0VmbkAEeQ/WCOj3GStQAI/AAAAAAAABKY/uyfZ-SK1MagooGc3t8txwXrifx48a5VPQCLcB/s400/AP_100721048567.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Where have you gone Toni Stahl? (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> Among the least consequential yet most puzzling moments of last Wednesday’s valedictory address by <b>Earnie Stewart </b>and <b>Jim Curtin </b>concerned <b>Kevin Kratz, </b>a bizarre coda on a quizzical and abbreviated tenure with the Philadelphia Union. <br /><br />Stewart <a href="http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/11/wrapping-up-2016-30-good-minutes-with.html" target="_blank">in the press conference</a> announced that the Union wouldn’t be retaining Kratz’s services and that he “was on loan so he’ll go back to Atlanta at one point,” referring to MLS expansion side Atlanta United FC. An Atlanta spokesman later clarified that the Union had agreed to trade Kratz’s rights to Atlanta in a deal that is pending the reopening of the trade window Dec. 11. <a href="http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/the91stminute/2016/11/atlanta-united-and-the-philly-union-just-pulled-a-very-mlsthings/" target="_blank">Very MLS</a>. <br /><br />Either way, the German midfielder’s career with the Union, which started ahead of the Sept. 15 roster freeze and ended with nary a bench appearance, has come and gone in a blink of an eye. Kratz was <a href="http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/09/making-sense-of-kevin-kratz-signing.html" target="_blank">originally announced as midfield cover</a>, yet even as <b>Alejandro Bedoya, Warren Creavalle </b>and <b>Maurice Edu </b>picked up injuries (which the previous two played through), Kratz never entered the picture. Yet the player with Bundesliga experience presented an intriguing piece, perhaps even to build with next year, and seemed <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20161005/SPORTS/161009805" target="_blank">an engaging interview subject</a> excited to be in Philly. Yet still, his blink-and-you-missed-it tenure came to nothing but a footnote to view someday and wonder, ‘who was that guy?’ <br /><br />Which got me thinking – Kratz isn’t the first player that Union have brought in to flesh out a roster late in the season. He’s not the first player to pop up, generate speculation, pique fan interest and vanish into nothingness. He’s not the first member of the Union whose tenure was so evanescent as to make you wonder if he really was even here or if it was all a peculiar dream caused by some by some bad Thai food too close to bedtime. <br /><br />So to commemorate Kratz’s time in Philly – and in a vain effort to actual have him leave some tangible legacy besides his 5-foot-8 frame filling in at center back in practice during the October international break – I hereby bestow upon Kratz the 2016 Stephen Okai Award. <br /><br />What is that, you may ask. It’s a way to mark the passage of Union time by enshrining each year’s most head-scratching personnel move of a certain exalted kind. It’s the one player each year who brings an abundance of under-the-radar hope, whose resume succeeds in raising the possibility that he could be something, whose praises are sung a bit too disproportionately by management, but who ends up never impacting the club. Sometimes it’s the player whose past travels make us in the media go, ‘but this guy was at (blank), wasn’t he?’ Others, it’s a player that so thoroughly impresses in practice and is recognized for it, but never translates it to a game. <br /><br />In short, it’s inspired by the player who generates the most lopsided proportion of fan-generated Twitter mentions directed at Union writers to actual contributions on the field. <br /><a name='more'></a><br />The award is named after <b>Stephen Okai, </b>the Union’s 2013 second-round SuperDraft pick. Selected No. 31 overall, Okai made it all of 35 days with the Union, released in mid-February, after he surfaced in camp with Seattle Sounders. Okai spent 2013 in the USL PDL with the Charlotte Eagles before spending the last three seasons in USL, the last two with Pittsburgh Riverhounds. <br /><br />That’s an extremely ordinary resume for the 27-year-old Ghanaian midfielder. But his immortalization in this role owes to what then manager <b>John Hackworth </b><a href="https://www.pressreader.com/usa/daily-local-news-west-chester-pa/20130125/281913065482150" target="_blank">said of Okai after he was drafted</a> (five picks after the Union selected <b>Don Anding </b>No. 26 overall and 69 before <b>Leo Fernandes </b>in the fourth round of the Supplemental Draft): <br /><br />“All you have to do is travel up the road and ask the folks up in Reading how important he was to their team for the last two years. The coaches in the NAIA and a lot of people rate him as the best player in college, but he’s in a division that doesn’t get a lot of notoriety. … Physically he’s ready for the demands of it. He’s a little older, more mature. If you look at the guys that were on the draft board at the time, we feel like he was a guy that was ready.” <br /><br />Therein lies the crux of Okai’s appeal. Was he but a normal SuperDraft second-rounder with longshot odds of helping his drafting club, then nothing ventured and nothing lost. But the added hype makes the difference, and when that hype is sufficient to warrant stories and get fans wondering if this guy can legitimately solve a need, particularly in the Wild West of roster tumult that so often characterized past Union teams, then the dissonance with their lack of production causes some friction. <br /><br />(Aside: This was my first year on the beat, and my detector for spin and other such tactics wasn’t as finely tuned. Hackworth didn’t take kindly to <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2013/02/21/unions-hackworth-explains-why-recent-signings-cut" target="_blank">us reminding him of that quote later</a>. “I don’t know what you guys want me to do besides talk about their good qualities,” he said. “I’m certainly not going to draft a guy and say that he stinks, it’s just that when we release him later on, you don’t write an article about it.”) <br /><br />With the Okai award inaugurated, it makes sense to award it retroactively, and to be honest the task is getting tougher with Stewart in charge. But here’s the listing. (Note: Here’s hoping past award winners don’t call, because we do NOT have money for plaques.) <br /><br /><b>2016: </b>Kevin Kratz <br /><b>Honorable mention: Anderson </b>(we’ll <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/03/06/fc-dallas-2-philadelphia-union-0-2016-mls-match-recap" target="_blank">always have Dallas</a> … and by we, I mean Fabian Castillo and his brief lead in the MVP race). <br /><br /><b>2015: </b>Dzenan Catic. <br /><br />The big striker <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20150115/SPORTS/150119752" target="_blank">was heralded for his</a> international experience as a second-round diamond in the rough. He ratcheted up the anticipation <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHc87ItMRD8" target="_blank">with nice showings in practices at YSC</a> where he looked superior to others who wouldn’t make the MLS cut. He made the bench for the Union in three MLS games, <a href="http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/news/2015/05/16/carolina-railhawks-acquire-dzenan-catic-on-loan-from-philadelphia-union" target="_blank">was loaned to</a> Carolina Railhawks for <b>Bryan Sylvestre </b>to fix their goalkeeping booboos (cough, <b>Rais M’Bolhi, </b>cough), then returned, then went back to Carolina apparently for the rest of the season, though it was never announced. He’s now with Houston affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC in USL.<br /><br /><br /><b>Honorable Mention: Raymond Lee </b>(<a href="http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2015-04-05-sporting-kansas-city-vs-philadelphia-union/details/video/35570" target="_blank">never forget</a>). <br /><br /><b>2014: </b>Corben Bone. <br /><br />Four fouls conceded, one yellow, one red <a href="http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/the91stminute/2014/05/watch-phillys-corben-bone-get-sent-off-in-less-than-a-minute/" target="_blank">in 12 minutes</a>. <br /><br /><b>Honorable mention</b>: <b>Brian Holt</b> (I was once told that Holt could be the best pound-for-pound goalie in MLS. At 5-foot-9, though, opponents’ forwards don’t grade on a curve, though Holt <a href="http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/post/2014/03/24/union-goalkeeper-brian-holt-has-spent-most-his-young-life-proving-naysayers-dead" target="_blank">was a tireless practice worker</a>). <br /><br /><b>2013: </b>Gilberto. <br /><br />Where to begin? This season was a goldmine, which isn’t the only reason that Okai doesn’t win his own award (that’s gauche anyway). But the motherlode was Gilberto dos Santos Souza Junior, whom Hackworth <a href="http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2013/08/meet-new-brazilian-what-we-know-about.html" target="_blank">signed Aug. 2</a>. For the life of me, I recall Gilberto running with other players not making the bench once before a game, but never actually saw him with a ball. (Those were the days where reporters rarely attended trainings held at Chester Park.) Hackworth immediately said, essentially, that Gilberto <a href="http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2013/08/another-brazilian-in-philly-gilbertos.html" target="_blank">wouldn't play at all in 2013</a> ... then cut him as soon as the 2014 offseason window opened. Sources out west tell me he is real based on his time with Sacramento Republic. <br /><br /><b>Honorable mention: Damani Richards </b>(this one isn’t a funny story <a href="http://wired868.com/2016/09/13/ex-tt-and-mls-defender-damani-richards-21-held-with-loaded-firearm" target="_blank">but rather a sad one</a>, though one that generated plenty of preseason acrimony at the time); <b>Oka Nikolov </b>(redeemed by <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20150731/SPORTS/150739916" target="_blank">his hand in helping</a> land <b>Tranquillo Barnetta</b>/helping <b>Andre Blake </b>develop); <b>Matt Kassel </b>(most notable achievement: Drawing the ire of <b>Mark Hughes </b><a href="http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2013/07/brek-sheas-injury-reaction-from-people.html" target="_blank">for breaking Brek Shea</a>). <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_x7tnO2_QyU/WCOj3LWp4KI/AAAAAAAABKc/S3YO4Mitgzc8rlFMqPY37zFI5egMdJCsACEw/s1600/AP_11091008133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_x7tnO2_QyU/WCOj3LWp4KI/AAAAAAAABKc/S3YO4Mitgzc8rlFMqPY37zFI5egMdJCsACEw/s400/AP_11091008133.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Jorge Plaza against the Union (and Sheanon Williams) <br />is the best we can do for photos. (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><b>2012: </b>Jorge Perlaza. <br /><br />The answer to the trivia question, ‘what happened to the first player ever drafted by the Union?’ lies with Perlaza. Acquired from Portland for <b>Danny Mwanga, </b>the Colombian forward’s tenure in Philadelphia <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thegoalkeeper/167759296.html" target="_blank">lasted 72 minutes</a> after he had established himself as a semi-regular for the Timbers. <br /><br /><b>Honorable mention: Greg Jordan</b> (glad he turned into a decent player, but doubt he’s on Minnesota United’s MLS roster next year); <b>Krystian Witkowski </b>(<a href="http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/post/2012/10/17/head-strong" target="_blank">concussions derailed him</a>, though he nonetheless contributed to the Union cornering the market on the many spellings of “Christian”); <b>Kai Herdling </b>(pre-Kevin Kratz). <br /><br /><b>2011: </b>Juan Diego Gonzalez <br /><br />This one’s tough without stats from the Reserve League, and also because the Union established a semi-regular, non-schizophrenic roster rotation under <b>Peter Nowak. </b>These were the days of hope that the Union would actually develop young talent, complemented by vets <b>Justin Mapp </b>and <b>Brian Carroll. </b>But Gonzalez stands out. He was signed in August 2010, played seven games, then nothing in 2011. Nary a second in MLS, and <a href="http://www.brotherlygame.com/2011/5/9/2159741/juan-diego-gonzalez-the-193000-paperweight" target="_blank">all for the price of</a> $193,000. That salary was just a little less than that of <b>Michael </b>and <b>Gabriel Farfan, Keon Daniel </b>and <b>Sheanon Williams </b>combined ($209k for 93 appearances). It’s long been assumed <a href="http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2012/12/13/the-erasure-of-diego-gutierrez/" target="_blank">that there’s more than meets the eye with Gonzalez</a>, so he richly deserves this honor. <br /><br /><b>Honorable mention: Levi Houpaeu </b>(stayed on the roster most of the year), <b>Morgan Langley </b>(at least he had the local angle with Swarthmore and played), <b>Chris Agorsor </b>(a “training stint with Manchester United” is the hypeist of hypes, though <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2011/02/15/amputation-scare-has-agorsor-motivated-union" target="_blank">injuries again intervened</a>). <br /><br /><b>2010: </b>Toni Stahl and David Myrie. <br /><br />Two players who will forever be known as starters <a href="http://www.espnfc.com/match?id=289675&amp;cc=5901&amp;league=USA.1" target="_blank">in the first game in franchise history</a> have the equally memorable distinction of never playing again for the Union. Stahl, the 17th pick in the 2010 SuperDraft (at age 24 after playing in Europe and in the face of reported European interest), was red carded after just 40 minutes against Seattle. Soon after loaned to Harrisburg City, Stahl never returned to the Union. Myrie, who played 84 minutes opening night, didn’t make April 1. He’s still in the picture for the Costa Rican national team. <br /><br /><b>Honorable mention: Shavar Thomas</b> (only one appearance for the Jamaican before being dealt to Sporting Kansas City in June; at least the trade turned into draft picks that turned into Carroll (trade with Columbus) and the pick used to grab <b>Ray Gaddis</b>).http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-2016-stephen-okai-award-goes-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-1283625384961439227Fri, 04 Nov 2016 18:41:00 +00002016-11-04T14:41:21.860-04:00Alejandro BedoyaBethlehem SteelBrian CarrollCJ SapongEarnie StewartFabian HerbersIlsinhoJim CurtinMaurice EduPhiladelphia UnionTranquillo BarnettaWarren CreavalleEdu's bad breaks the outlier for the Union's healthy season<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BeSHGjJysdA/WBzVup7rgUI/AAAAAAAABJ8/gQ1Ca_Yb2PoiOQICY_vFhMwHuFX9kmoPgCLcB/s1600/Edu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BeSHGjJysdA/WBzVup7rgUI/AAAAAAAABJ8/gQ1Ca_Yb2PoiOQICY_vFhMwHuFX9kmoPgCLcB/s400/Edu.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Maurice Edu, seen in last year's U.S. Open Cup semifinal against Chicago, <br />was dealt a difficult hand of injuries this season, but he's the outlier <br />for a mostly healthy Union squad. (Times File)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Earnie Stewart </b>and <b>Jim Curtin </b>covered <a href="http://bit.ly/2eVIOek" target="_blank">a bevy of topics Wednesday</a> in their end-of-season media address. From specific personnel groups to philosophy on changes to a vote of confidence on Curtin from Stewart, the full range was covered. <br /><br />But one particularly perplexing aspect of the Union’s season didn’t quite receive a definitive answer, and perhaps that’s because one doesn’t exist. <br /><br />The travails of <b>Maurice Edu</b> have been a constant story line dogging the Union this season. His injury has followed a devastating trajectory, from a groin tear last year to sports hernia surgery in the offseason to a stress fracture to <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20161024/fracture-brings-heartbreaking-end-to-edus-season" target="_blank">a more severe leg fracture</a>. Somewhere along the line – perhaps at many junctures – reality deviated from the rigorous plan that the Union set for Edu’s rehab. So the question, more genuinely curious than accusatory, from me Wednesday was, does the handling of his injury by the staff require any reevaluation? <br /><br />Stewart’s answer in full: <br /><blockquote><i>“Oh, yeah, also that, except that it’s, like you say, it goes from one into the other, and a lot of times you see that. If you have an injury left, you favor something else right and that might happen. I’d have to say a lot of things are very, very unfortunate, too, in the way that it went from, one, having a surgery, to it going into a stress fracture — a stress reaction first, and then a stress fracture. I mean, that has a lot to do with favoring and all that kind of stuff so it’s very unfortunate, his season is.” </i></blockquote>That answer would seem to shift the reasoning – not blame, per se – for the injury onto the circumstances surrounding it. Edu had never before dealt with bone injuries, and he’d discussed that the process for rehabbing them is different that with muscle problems. By all accounts, the re-injury before the Red Bulls game in the season finale was a fluke on the training ground. How the original stress fracture was sustained has never been discussed beyond that Edu wasn’t progressing in his rehab in the preseason then got a scan showing the fracture that drastically altered estimates of his return. <br /><br />The timeline set then, at the beginning of March, <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20160309/union-lose-edu-for-three-months-with-stress-fracture" target="_blank">called for three to four months</a>. Edu returned <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20160715/edus-return-to-training-is-positive-step-on-long-journey-for-union-captain" target="_blank">to the practice field</a> four and a half months later, on July 15, and played for Bethlehem Steel <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20160907/unions-edu-thinks-leg-passed-minor-test" target="_blank">for the first time Sept. 4</a> (six months after the original diagnosis). Edu made the Union bench for the first of three times Sept. 24. <br /><br />Understandably, the Union aren’t placing a timeline on this latest injury. But the club also isn’t providing much explanation for the protracted saga beyond bad luck. <a name='more'></a><br />“Yeah, it’s just about as unfortunate a season as you could possibly have,” Curtin said. “Going even to rewinding back to the Open Cup right after we played the final, we thought it was just a groin; quick healing, month or two that he’d miss. That led to the stress fracture in the leg, a lot longer rehab that he attacked as best he could and as aggressively as he could. <br /><br />“Our staff did everything they could to get him back quickly. And then to have the freak breaking of the leg when he was so excited to be back with the group against Red Bull? I’ve never seen anything like it, to be honest.” <br /><br />You can grant Curtin and Stewart the incredulity on Edu, and perhaps there’s no underlying failure on the training side. Let’s instead look at it this way: The Union last year were beset by injuries everywhere on the roster. In 2015, 21 players <a href="http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-case-for-curtin-one-reason-why-2015.html" target="_blank">missed a total of 112 man games</a>, including a bevy of nagging muscle and soft-tissue injuries that in part contributed to a rethink in the training department this year on top of the sports science improvements spurred by Stewart. So did that change things? <br /><br />Yes, and markedly so. If you exclude Edu’s prolonged absence, just 10 players missed 34 games with injuries. Even with Edu, the total rises to just 65 (Edu made the bench twice and was healthy once when not selected, for a total of 31 games out). That’s a 42 percent reduction from last year. <br /><br />More important, few of those injuries were of the soft-tissue variety – really the only ones were to <b>Ilsinho, </b>who missed eight games, five with hamstring/quad problems. <b>CJ Sapong, Vincent Nogueira </b>and <b>Ken Tribbett </b>had ankle issues, <b>Anderson </b>and <b>Josh Yaro </b>had shoulder problems, Yaro and <b>Sebastien Le Toux </b>suffered concussions. <b>Fabian Herbers </b>had a hamstring issue, a rare soft-tissue complaint. <br /><br />The most nettlesome problem through the season was plantar fasciitis, afflicting <b>Brian Carroll </b>and Ilsinho. Other issues, like <b>Tranquillo Barnetta’s </b>balky knees, preexisted, leaving the training staff to mitigate the losses to the four games the Swiss midfielder missed. <b>Alejandro Bedoya </b>and <b>Warren Creavalle </b>played through rib injuries late in the season, at least partially attributable to the training staff's ability to get them ready and fit enough to go.<br /><br />All those efforts contributed to the Union more consistently getting their chose players on the field in 2016. Whatever went wrong in handling Edu’s injury, then, appears to either be a genuine anomaly or the outlier when compared to other players. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/11/edus-bad-breaks-outlier-for-unions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-6296386973749190868Thu, 03 Nov 2016 20:36:00 +00002016-11-03T16:36:04.761-04:00Brad DavisBrian CarrollConor CaseyJim CurtinMaurice EduNed GrabavoyPhiladelphia UnionSebastien Le TouxZach Scott'I still think that there's more': Brian Carroll ready to return for 2017<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QHjtK9gEisg/WBufNh_P9sI/AAAAAAAABJg/rd_inV3IsqE1Y8GKOoW9aRqGaILTmSUkgCLcB/s1600/AP_16154012276865.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QHjtK9gEisg/WBufNh_P9sI/AAAAAAAABJg/rd_inV3IsqE1Y8GKOoW9aRqGaILTmSUkgCLcB/s400/AP_16154012276865.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Union midfielder Brian Carroll, right, defending Columbus' Justin Meram <br />in a game June 1, is preparing to return next year for his 15th MLS season <br />and seventh in Philadelphia, at age 35. (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Brian Carroll’s </b>first comments assessing the 2016 Philadelphia Union season Wednesday were optimistic about what had gone and bullish about what could lie ahead. Implicit in that answer is that Carroll wants to be around for the latter pursuit. <br /><br />So when it came time to fulfill the journalistic duty of asking a 35-year-old player, one just two years younger than his coach and older than <b>Jim Curtin</b> was in taking over the Union, the answer seemed a mere formality. <br /><br />“I still think that there’s more,” Carroll said. <br /><br />With the season that the club captain put together, it’s hard to argue with that appraisal. It’s been clear for months that Carroll’s level of play warranted another season in MLS if he so chose. And Carroll confirmed Wednesday that retirement isn’t in the cards just yet. <br /><br />“Obviously (I’m) getting up in age and it’s going to be a year-to-year thing at this point,” Carroll said. “I think I proved to myself that there’s a little bit more left in the tank, and I’d like to have a strong offseason and I’d like to contribute similarly next year. I didn’t know how much I’d be able to be called upon this year, but I think when I was called upon, I handled my end of the bargain and maybe exceeded my own expectations. I’m willing to put in the work, continue doing this next year and see how next year goes and make a choice after that.” <br /><br />Rather quietly, Carroll assembled an extremely strong season. He played 26 games and started 23, both his highest totals since 2013. He logged more than 2,000 minutes for the 10th time in his illustrious career. And he didn’t look outpaced by improvements in an increasingly technical Union side. <br /><br />Per <a href="https://www.whoscored.com/Players/38723/History/Brian-Carroll" target="_blank">WhoScored’s metrics</a>, Carroll’s passing percentage dipped slightly to 82.2 percent. But he had his most combative season with the Union at 2.6 tackles per 90 minutes, up from 2.3 last year and 1.8 in 2014. That speaks to a simplified role for the No. 6, and when surrounded by playmakers, Carroll can be an important, steady cog focused on breaking up opponents’ attacking moves. <br /><br />Carroll entered the season with modest expectations. When questioned Wednesday, he threw out numbers of “maybe … five starts and play in 10” games as a for-instance. But he played well enough to earn considerably more time, partially due to <b>Maurice Edu’s </b>injuries. <a name='more'></a><br />“It went better than that for me personally, and I will do the work to prepare to be ready for that type of role and then some,” Carroll said. “But if it’s less than that, if it’s more than that, I’m here to push the club forward and to make the club the best it could be.” <br /><br />Even if he’s in line for a diminished role in 2017, he’s worth keeping around. Carroll is 10 games shy of passing <b>Sebastien Le Toux </b>for the all-time franchise lead (175) and 10 shy of 400 MLS games (regular and postseason) as he enters his seventh season with the Union and 15th overall. <br /><br />Down the stretch of the MLS season, a bevy of veterans called it quits, including Carroll’s former Union teammate <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/10/27/mls-veteran-conor-casey-announces-retirement-playing-career" target="_blank">Conor Casey</a>, <a href="http://www.soundersfc.com/post/2016/09/15/retiring-zach-scott-reflects-his-15-year-career-seattle-sounders" target="_blank">Zach Scott</a>, <a href="http://www.sportingkc.com/post/2016/10/23/sporting-kc-midfielder-brad-davis-announces-retirement-after-decorated-15-year-mls" target="_blank">Brad Davis</a> and <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/10/18/portland-timbers-ned-grabavoy-announces-he-will-retire-seasons-end" target="_blank">Ned Grabavoy</a>. Those four players logged a combined 2,856 minutes this year, the most among them Davis at 1,300. Each saw a decrease of at least 40 percent in their appearances from 2015, while Carroll’s increased 15 percent. It’s clear that his game didn’t decline in step with those of his newly-retired peers. <br /><br />Carroll’s decision factors in two main queries: Is he contributing to the Union’s quest for success? And is he enjoying his craft? Curtin has testified repeatedly this season as to Carroll’s value. (And, to speculate, you’d imagine Carroll could play a coaching or front office role after his playing days.) <br /><br />The second question is up to Carroll, and his answer is similarly decisive. <br /><br />“I don’t dive too deeply into those kinds of decision-making processes,” Carroll said. “From ex-teammates to ex-coaches, the conversation comes up, and it’s usually, play as long as you can and enjoy what you’re doing. Right now, I’m still enjoying playing and still enjoying my role here, so I’ll do that as long as I’m enjoying it. And then when I don’t, it’s time to move on to the different part of the game.” http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/11/i-still-think-that-theres-more-brian.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-4622329381822232780Wed, 02 Nov 2016 19:59:00 +00002016-11-02T15:59:22.922-04:00AndersonAndre BlakeAtlanta United FCBrian CarrollCharlie DaviesChris PontiusEarnie StewartFabinhoJim CurtinKevin KratzMatt JonesMaurice EduPhiladelphia UnionWrapping up 2016: 30 good minutes with Earnie Stewart<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vk--wcaU5Uc/WBpFS1zV8FI/AAAAAAAABJA/f7a67wdgxuMCd9yP0vhvVJL3pmVsTLzcACLcB/s1600/StewartBedoya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vk--wcaU5Uc/WBpFS1zV8FI/AAAAAAAABJA/f7a67wdgxuMCd9yP0vhvVJL3pmVsTLzcACLcB/s400/StewartBedoya.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Jim Curtin, left, and Earnie Stewart wrapped up the Union season <br />with a lengthy press conference Wednesday.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>For over an hour Wednesday, members of the Philadelphia Union worked either on the field or in the weight room, a coda on a long campaign and a gateway to the offseason. Then coach <b>Jim Curtin </b>and sporting direction <b>Earnie Stewart </b>fielded questions for 30-some minutes, wrapping up a playoff season that was and previewing an offseason of tinkering rather than rebuilding. <br /><br />Those two, particularly Stewart, discussed a wide range of topics. Some takeaways: <br /><br />- First, big picture. The Union announced options declined on six players: Loanees <b>Anderson </b>and <b>Matt Jones, </b>plus <b>Cole Missimo, Taylor Washington, Walter Restrepo </b>and <b>Kevin Kratz </b>(more on that later). It’s still mulling decisions on <b>Charlie Davies </b>and <b>Leo Fernandes. </b>Everyone else is back. That is a level of decisiveness and transparency that past squads have lacked. <br /><br />- Breakup days of seasons past have been helter-skelter affairs – exit interviews, players slinking back to their personal lives, some informal workouts organized. This year, the Union are in Chester for two weeks after the season, working with the staff to prep for the offseason. Captain <b>Brian Carroll </b>indicated that that was a stark departure from the past, emblematic of the changes Stewart has instituted. <br /><br />- Plenty of fans have opined about Curtin’s future as the coach of the Union. Stewart was unequivocal in assessing his performance: <br /><blockquote><i>“Really good, and I say that with a lot of confidence too. The way we set out the start of this season, I was curious in the United States how we go about practicing and do we go out with purpose, and Jim has exceeded those expectations in going out every single day. When we talked about roles and responsibilities as the players, you can go out and play games, or you can put a purpose behind everything that you do in the exercises that we have and in trying to create those moments of, the angled passes that we always talk about, playing forward that we always talk about. You can say it, or you can go out and practice it. I have to say Jim and his technical staff have been excellent in that in what I’ve seen, the level of training. And that’s my form of recognition to seeing how things go. If you see the progress in the beginning of the seasons in our keepaway and if you see the process now of where we are in our keepaway games, that’s a major, major difference and a lot has to do with the coaching staff in that. </i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“I think the beginning of the season showed that confidence level that we have, the way we can play. Do things happen during the season that we can’t reach that totally? Yeah. Do I feel that there’s open discussions about trying to tweak it left and right within our formation, within our style, within our system in getting better and getting those results? Yeah, they’ve been there. We’ve had open, honest discussions with each other which I think is fantastic and a very good way of working. That evaluation has been really good.” </i></blockquote>- The Union adapted to a new training load, with two-a-days and other new tactics. Stewart was adamant that the increased burden didn’t precipitate the late-season swoon. “No, I don’t think so,” he said. “I do know how it works from a player perspective. That’s my own experience. When you win games, you’re never tired, and when you lose games, you’re very tired. And that’s just it. A human body can do way more than we think, so I don’t believe in that. That’s not an excuse.” Curtin added that per team data, he didn’t see players late in the season failing to reach the physical outputs they did early on. “To put in on fatigue, I don’t buy it,” Curtin said. <br /><br />- The reasons for the late struggles remained elusive. Some of it was a young roster in the heat of a playoff chase for the first time. Some was untimely injuries. Part of it was the schedule getting tougher, leading to crises in player confidence. Some of it, as Stewart pointed out, is simple perception. Said Curtin: “We are examining and trying to pinpoint exactly what it is, too, and the harder we search and the more we look at the data, the analytics, the games, it comes back that it’s a variety of things.” <br /><br />- Stewart has said that the club hasn’t received concrete offers for <b>Andre Blake. </b>The goalkeeper, who graduated Generation Adidas Monday, will count on the Union’s salary budget for the first time in his career in 2017. Stewart concurred that Blake has earned that and he would listen to offers for the Jamaican goalie, but they haven’t yet materialized. Stewart: <a name='more'></a><blockquote><i>“The stance on that is once people call, you can actually react to it. Soccer is really simple and I know a lot of people don’t like to hear it, but once an offer comes, you think about it and you think about it in certain regards. Andre’s had a great year. Would it surprise me if somebody would call and want to buy him? No, it wouldn’t surprise me. It hasn’t happened up ’til now. And if it does happen at some point, you have to look at it from a perspective of what does it do short-term and what does it do long-term for the club? There’s always a price. It works as simple as that. Do we want to keep our best players here? Yes for sure. But if we can go forward and selling somebody and becoming better towards the future, you have to look at that, too.” </i></blockquote>- Curtin is hopeful that <b>Maurice Edu </b>can recover from his latest injury. Though Stewart didn’t put a timeline on the leg fracture, Curtin said, “We’re hoping to have him with us going right into Clearwater so 2016 is in the past and he has a clear head going into it.” Stewart said they will evaluate how Edu’s injury rehab was handled but reiterated the fluky nature of what occurred. <br /><br />- Time for the Kevin Kratz saga: Stewart said that Kratz, who was signed before the Sept. 15 roster freeze and never so much as made the bench for the Union, would return to expansion club Atlanta United, from which he was on loan. An Atlanta spokesman later clarified that the Union had agreed to a binding trade agreement with Atlanta that will be made official when the roster-move window reopens Dec. 11. Either way, Kratz won’t be with the Union in 2017. <br /><br />- Stewart offered interesting comments about tactics. There was some call, during the Union’s struggles, to adjust formation. But with a young squad already acclimating to the rigors of meaningful games, Stewart praised Curtin for not tinkering excessively. Stewart: <br /><blockquote><i>“No, I don’t believe in that, in that regard. Like I said, there are certain moments in a season … where things don’t go your way and you have to fall back on something. And the more you change and the more you make it difficult, especially for young players in different formations and different tactical ways of setting up, it’s going to hurt you. And what we tried to concentrate on toward the end of the season was trying to take stress away and trying to go back to those responsibilities and do your job. … We made this choice in the beginning of the season to do it this way – not saying that the last 10 minutes, and Jim has done that during the season – that you throw an extra center forward up. But you go back to your basics and back to the normal part because that’s what everybody gets their confidence from. Once you let it go and you change a lot, people don’t know what to expect any more and what their task is. Obviously the more players get seasoned, get experienced, you can do a little bit more of that.” </i></blockquote>- Despite being out of the playoffs, Curtin is still tuning in, for reasons personal and professional. “You continue to watch, you learn from different things that maybe even other coaches do and you take ideas,” he said. “I would encourage our players. Myself I do watch all the games still. I don’t just turn it off and go golf or anything like that. I hate golf.” <br /><br />- Some odds and ends: <b>Fabinho </b>is one of the players whose fate for next year is sealed. He triggered a vesting option for 2017 via games played this season. … <b>Roland Alberg’s </b>girlfriend is expecting a baby this December, for which he’ll be returning to Holland for some time during the offseason. … <b>Chris Pontius </b>on being a finalist for the Comeback Player of the Year award: “Nice gesture. Hope I’m never up for the award again. I don’t want to be known as a comeback player. I don’t want to be known as injured anymore. I want to be healthy.” http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/11/wrapping-up-2016-30-good-minutes-with.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-7823888466476355912Tue, 01 Nov 2016 20:12:00 +00002016-11-01T16:12:37.327-04:00Andre BlakeAtlanta United FCCharlie DaviesCJ SapongEric AyukFabinhoMinnesota UnitedPhiladelphia UnionRay GaddisWarren CreavalleExpanding on the horizon: Eyeing the Union's expansion draft plan<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UhtGUonprd4/WBj25BAYhwI/AAAAAAAABIo/mvAbiADuY_EgyY33_q4q6FmvM_5CuN7WACLcB/s1600/AP_16150124820313%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UhtGUonprd4/WBj25BAYhwI/AAAAAAAABIo/mvAbiADuY_EgyY33_q4q6FmvM_5CuN7WACLcB/s400/AP_16150124820313%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>What do the futures of Brian Carroll, center, and Warren Creavalle, right, <br />with the Union look like? The MLS Expansion Draft could provide hints. (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table>It’s the first week of November, and the stage is ready to discuss how the Philadelphia Union should guard against losses in an upcoming expansion draft. As some things change, others stay the same. <br /><br />The Expansion Draft to boost the rosters of incoming Atlanta United and Minnesota United will take place Dec. 13. Unlike the last such draft in 2014 to populate New York City FC and Orlando City’s rosters (aside: Do paired expansion teams have to have identical naming structures?), Atlanta and Minnesota will each pick five players from MLS rosters, as opposed to 10 each last time. That lessens the risk of loss for current clubs. There’s also a limit of one players picked per team, as opposed to two last time. <br /><br />All <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/09/13/mls-releases-expansion-draft-rules-atlanta-minnesota-prepare-2017" target="_blank">the rules briefings</a> are here, and I’m <a href="http://www.brotherlygame.com/2016/9/14/12908640/philadelphia-union-expansion-draft-protect" target="_blank">not the first to share thoughts</a> on how the Union should approach the expansion draft. <br /><br />Here’s the list of who I would protect, in no exact order: <br /><br />1. Alejandro Bedoya <br />2. Keegan Rosenberry <br />3. CJ Sapong <br />4. Chris Pontius <br />5. Richie Marquez <br />6. Ilsinho <br />7. Roland Alberg <br />8. Warren Creavalle <br />9. Ray Gaddis <br />10. Andre Blake <br />11. Eric Ayuk <br /><br /><b>Exempt from protection: </b>Fabian Herbers, Josh Yaro (both Generation Adidas), Auston Trusty, Derrick Jones (Homegrowns) <br /><br /><b>Not protected: </b>Matt Jones, Anderson, Tranquillo Barnetta, Taylor Washington, Cole Missimo, Maurice Edu, Kevin Kratz, John McCarthy, Ken Tribbett, Walter Restrepo, Leo Fernandes, Brian Carroll, Fabinho, Charlie Davies. <br /><br />That’s all 29 players on the Union roster. Here’s the logic behind it, with players broken up into categories. <br /><a name='more'></a><br /><b>No-brainer protects: </b>Bedoya, Rosenberry, Pontius, Marquez, Blake. <br /><br />That’s a DP, two potential award winners plus a central defender and goalkeeper still earning less than they’re worth. The latter is a tough pill to swallow <a href="http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/week-mls-%E2%80%93-october-31-2016" target="_blank">with Blake graduating GA</a>, but he’s established himself as an unquestioned starter (and a goalie of the year candidate), so he must be protected. Even if a move, as mooted, is forthcoming, it wouldn’t be finalized before the draft. <br /><br /><b>Decide on your terms: </b>Sapong, Ilsinho, Alberg. <br /><br />Despite his struggles late in the season, Sapong should have a future in some capacity with the Union. If European teams are looking at him as has been reported, then the Union want to protect him. Ilsinho and Alberg are pieces that you hope will build on debut MLS seasons. You make sure you still have the option to do that. <br /><br /><b>Trade value preservation: </b>Creavalle, Gaddis. <br /><br />These are two guys with value on the field, but also to be dealt in MLS, which can recoup allocation money for moves outside of the league. That’s worth retaining. You could shuffle Davies in here, too, but that depends on how the Union value them relatively. (For the record, I had Davies on the protected list prior to news of Blake’s GA graduation. I think Davies, because of his apparent limitations this year and his age, is the one you have the best chances of retaining should he dangled.) <br /><br /><b>Transfer fee alert: </b>Ayuk. <br /><br />Any team that gets Ayuk, who is still just 19, cashes in on his future transfers abroad. The Union have invested two years in him, which is too much to risk losing. <br /><br />That leaves the list of non-protectees: <br /><br /><b>Gone: </b>M.Jones, Anderson, Barnetta. <br /><br />Two loanees who played one game each and Barnetta, who has a deal waiting in Switzerland. <br /><br /><b>The ‘who knows’</b>: Washington, Missimo, Kratz.<br /><br />Washington impressed with Bethlehem Steel, but he’s a second-round draft pick. Expansion teams can get their own of those, unless they’re remarkably enamored of him. Ditto Missimo. As for Kratz, it’s never been clear what kind of guarantees he has for next year. He also trialed with Minnesota and they passed on him, so no reason to think that mindset has changed. <br /><br /><b>Injury: </b>Edu.<br /><br />No one is going to take a 30-year-old midfielder entering (what is believed to be) the last year of his contract with a twice-broken leg facing months of recovery. <br /><br /><b>The risks: </b>McCarthy, Tribbett, Restrepo, Fernandes, Carroll, Fabinho, Davies.<br /><br />You’d hate to lose McCarthy, a great face for the club and a young guy who could yet grow into a job. But look around the league at which goalies will presumably be available – <b>Zac MacMath, </b>either <b>Bobby Shuttleworth </b>or <b>Brad Knighton, Travis Worra, </b>probably <b>Steve Clark </b>with <b>Zack Steffen </b>the goalie of the future in Columbus, <b>Alec Kann </b>– and McCarthy is safe to float. After the playoff game, no one’s taking a flyer on Tribbett. Restrepo and Fernandes are borderline MLS players but decent reserves. At 36, who knows what Carroll’s future holds? <br /><br />That leaves Fabinho, whom many heavily criticized the Union for protecting last time around. The Brazilian is in an interesting position. He’s not young (turns 32 in March). But he had a strong season. The Union declined an option on him last December, then re-signed him on SuperDraft day to a deal of undisclosed length, which has become code for a one-year deal. That leaves him out-of-contract. Maybe he’s worth keeping around, as a locker-room buffer for Ilsinho and any other Brazilians they try to acquire. But maybe not worth protecting assuming no one will bite if he’s dangled in the market. That said, you could totally protect him and not Gaddis and the world would go on. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/11/expanding-on-horizon-eyeing-unions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-9031212385631629413Mon, 24 Oct 2016 18:50:00 +00002016-10-24T14:50:12.191-04:002016 MLS Cup PlayoffsChicago FireD.C. UnitedNew England RevolutionPhiladelphia UnionReal Salt LakeSeattle SoundersVancouver WhitecapsThe struggle is real: How the Union's end-of-season winless streak stacks upThe Philadelphia Union are limping into the playoffs, or backing in, or whatever verb-euphemism-in you’d like to deploy. The achievement of the club’s first playoff berth since 2011 is marred by a seven-game winless streak dating to the start of September. Over that stretch, they’ve gone 0-5-2, taking a mere two points from a possible 21. It’s not an ideal finish to the regular season by any stretch of the imagination. <br /><br />So I wondered, how does it stack up historically? What is the longest winless streak for a playoff team? And how did struggling teams fare in the playoffs? <br /><br />First off, it’s hardly unprecedented, since the Union aren’t even the only 2016 MLS Cup playoff qualifier with such a streak of futility. The sixth-place team in the West, Real Salt Lake, has endured an 0-4-3 stretch in its last seven, matching the Union’s winless run. None of the other playoff teams, though, have gone more than two games without a win. <br /><br />Only one other team in the last dozen years has entered the playoffs on a seven-game winless run: The 2013 Seattle Sounders, which stumbled into the playoffs on an 0-4-3 record. That team won a Wild Card playoff game, 2-0 against Colorado, before losing in the Western semifinals to Portland. <br /><br />In the past, how have similar strugglers fared? For this, I looked at MLS Cup playoffs dating to 2004. I defined the category as any team with a winless streak of five or more games to end the regular season or just one win in their last seven or more games. Eleven teams fit the bill (record to end the regular season in parenthesis): <br /><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Montreal_Impact_season" target="_blank">2013 Montreal Impact</a> (1-6-1) <br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Seattle_Sounders_FC_season" target="_blank">2013 Seattle Sounders</a> (0-4-3) <br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Vancouver_Whitecaps_FC_season" target="_blank">2012 Vancouver Whitecaps</a> (1-6-3) <br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Real_Salt_Lake_season" target="_blank">2011 Real Salt Lake</a> (0-4-2) <br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Columbus_Crew_season" target="_blank">2010 Columbus Crew</a> (1-3-3) <br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Chicago_Fire_season" target="_blank">2009 Chicago Fire</a> (1-2-4) <br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_New_England_Revolution_season" target="_blank">2008 New England Revolution</a> (0-4-2) <br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_FC_Dallas_season" target="_blank">2007 FC Dallas</a> (1-5-2) <br /><a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/schedule?month=all&amp;year=2006&amp;club=196&amp;club_options=9&amp;op=Update&amp;form_build_id=form-MNdYPf2id6rDoVhXV9nn8Gm7CKrt8lagdMYTBcXJeyU&amp;form_id=mp7_schedule_hub_search_filters_form" target="_blank">2006 D.C. United</a> (1-4-2) <br /><a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/schedule?month=all&amp;year=2006&amp;club=194&amp;club_options=9&amp;op=Update&amp;form_build_id=form-c1f0wk7rgHyOnDffjlQFTJRejvXyQYm7eWmeiJY_ioE&amp;form_id=mp7_schedule_hub_search_filters_form" target="_blank">2006 Colorado Rapids</a> (0-2-3) <br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_San_Jose_Earthquakes_season" target="_blank">2004 San Jose Earthquakes</a> (0-3-4) <br /><br />Of those 11 teams, none lifted MLS Cup. But five of the 11 won playoff ties. Four of those won two-leg ties, while Seattle in 2013 is the only to win a one-game wild card, though that is a newer addition to the playoff scheme. Three of the strugglers have played wild card games; Seattle in 2013 is the only one to win, though they were also the only one to host their game. <br /><br />Four teams have won two-leg games: RSL in 2011, Chicago in 2009, and D.C. and Colorado (in PKs) in 2006. None of the teams has even made the MLS Cup final, the closest being Chicago in 2009, losing in PKs to RSL. <br /><br />That sets long but not unreachable odds for the Union to extend their postseason. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-struggle-is-real-how-unions-end-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-7025550673320286694Sun, 23 Oct 2016 19:37:00 +00002016-10-23T15:37:38.019-04:00Bradley Wright-PhillipsCarlos ValderramaCharlie DaviesCJ SapongDavid VillaEric AyukIlsinhoJim CurtinMaurice EduNew York Red BullsPhiladelphia UnionRoland AlbergSacha KljestanUnion-Red Bulls: Decision Day lineups<div style="text-align: center;"><b>UNION (4-2-3-1)&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Blake&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Fabinho -Marquez-Tribbett-Rosenberry&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Creavalle-Bedoya&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Ilsinho-Alberg-Ayuk&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Herbers&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bench</b><i>: McCarthy, Gaddis, Trusty, Carroll, Pontius, Sapong, Barnetta&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Red Bulls (4-2-3-1)&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Robles&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Lawrence-Collin-Perrinelle-Duvall&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>McCarty-Felipe&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Grella-Kljestan-Muyl&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>B.Wright-Phillips&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bench</b><i>: Reynish, Zizzo, Zubar, Davis, Damari, Veron, S.Wright-Phillips</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20161022/union-counting-on-change-to-shake-the-funk" target="_blank">Preview&nbsp;</a></div><br />- <b>Jim Curtin</b> promised changes, and he delivered, at least up top. <b>Eric Ayuk </b>makes his first start of the season after 28 appearances last year. He hasn’t made the bench yet this year for the Union. <b>Ilsinho </b>starts for the first time since Aug. 20. <b>Roland Alberg </b>starts for just the second time since the end of July. A reminder that the Union need to give up fewer than 12 goals, and they have probably the most defense-averse attacking midfield possible. This could get interesting.<br /><br /><br /><br />- <b>CJ Sapong </b>makes the bench after a concussion. <b>Charlie Davies </b>is the conspicuous absence from the squad. <br /><br />- The worst news the Union could possibly have also dropped today: <b>Maurice Edu </b>fractured his left fibula in practice Saturday. Reports had surfaced yesterday that he left the field with a non-contact injury, and a Union source confirmed that today. No timetable was offered. Edu has not played in over a year after a sports hernia and a stress fracture in his leg. <br /><br />- It’s all about the milestones for New York Red Bulls in a full-strength lineup. <b>Bradley Wright-Phillips </b>is in the race for the golden boot with 23 goals. New York City FC’s <b>David Villa </b>can catch him; he’s got 22 goals and starts for NYC at home against Columbus. He can also solidify his record for the best three-year goal-scoring stretch in MLS history (he has 67 since the start of the 2014 season). <b>Sacha Kljestan </b>can get to 20 assists this season, becoming just the second player ever to do that in league history, joining <b>Carlos Valderrama. </b>http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/10/union-red-bulls-decision-day-lineups.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-7851020496058663996Wed, 19 Oct 2016 23:08:00 +00002016-10-19T19:08:52.394-04:00D.C. UnitedJim CurtinMLS Cup PlayoffsMontreal ImpactNew England RevolutionNew York City FCNew York Red BullsPhiladelphia UnionThe good, the bad and the thought-provoking for Week 34The Philadelphia Union’s regular season draws to a rare, meaningful conclusion Sunday. The club’s playoff inclusion is about as assured as it can be without being official, which sets up some puzzling motivations for this weekend’s visit from the New York Red Bulls. <br /><br />Among the injuries and the usual spate of mid-week updates, three other thoughts occurred to me Wednesday at <b>Jim Curtin’s</b> press conference. <br /><br />- The good news: About those playoff chances… <br /><br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">Soccer Power Index projections to make the <a href="https://twitter.com/MLS">@MLS</a> playoffs. Four West contenders all in with a win (among other scenarios). <a href="https://t.co/TGA7w0VrGi">pic.twitter.com/TGA7w0VrGi</a></div>— Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/PCarrESPN/status/788371810878238720">October 18, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /><br />I’m not going to dig up the odds of Leicester City winning the Premier League title last year, because no one needs that. But in case there’s any lingering pangs of worry, try this tonic. The only way the Union miss out is if they lose AND New England wins AND the margins of victory/defeat sum to 12 goals. Per MLS's fact book, in 21 seasons, only eight games have ever decided by the six or more goals the Revs need to win by/the Union need to lose by (three seven-goal margins, five six-goal games). Only once (2009) has two such games fallen in the same season, and we’ve already had one monstrous margin, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_FC_0%E2%80%937_New_York_Red_Bulls" target="_blank">7-0 Hudson River Derby</a>, this year. So the Union need a catastrophic set of circumstances to happen to miss the playoffs. <br /><br />- The bad news: barring that volcano erupting during a hurricane bringing a plague of locusts, the Union’s postseason stay could be brief. Last week’s <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20161016/SPORTS/161019718" target="_blank">loss to Orlando City</a> guaranteed the Union won’t host a playoff game, locked into either the fifth or sixth seed. <br /><br />Road teams in the MLS Cup Playoffs have not traditionally fared well in one-off games. In the five years that MLS has used this formulation, road teams are 2-10. <br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />The last road team to win a one-game playoff was the East No. 5 seed Houston Dynamo in 2012, which beat East No. 4 Chicago, 2-1. The year before, the Red Bulls, as the fourth and final wild card, bested top wild card Dallas, 2-0. (The current six-per-conference format started last year and resulted in two one-game knockout ties per conference. There was only one 4-v-5 knockout per conference from 2012-14, and 2011 drew four wild cards from either conference in two knockout games.) <br /><br />- A little food for thought, inspired by my colleague Kevin Kinkead: <br /><br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">People realize Sunday is meaningless, right? NYRB is locked into first, Philly is locked* into a wild card road game</div>— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kevin_Kinkead/status/788816648140652545">October 19, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /><br />The Red Bulls will win the East, no matter what happens Sunday at Talen Energy Stadium. New York City, with a win, can tie them on 54 points, but there’s a 13-goal spread on goal differential. With a win and a Montreal loss, the Union would vault the Impact into fifth (wins is the first tiebreaker, and the Union would have 12 to the Impact’s 11). D.C. United is most likely to finish fourth, while NYC and Toronto can finish second or third. <br /><br />So ask yourself, as a Union fan, who do you want to see in a wild card game: New York City, Toronto or D.C. United? <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/results" target="_blank">On form</a>, the answer is clear. D.C. has won four straight, is on a six-game unbeaten streak and have lost once in 13 games. Toronto is winless in five (0-4-1). NYC has just kind of chugged along. <br /><br />The head-to-head isn’t conclusive. The Union drew in their only trip to <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20160806/SPORTS/160809795" target="_blank">RFK Stadium this year</a>, but that game Aug. 6 was before D.C. started rolling. The Union got a result last time in Toronto, a 1-1 draw Sept. 24 against a <b>Sebastian Giovinco</b>-less side, and Toronto is completely different with the Italian. And the Union haven’t played NYC since June 18, <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20160618/SPORTS/160619666" target="_blank">a 3-2 loss</a> in the first post-<b>Vincent</b> <b>Nogueira </b>game. <br /><br />So if you’re the Union, wouldn’t you rather take the chance with either Toronto or NYC than deal with D.C.? If that’s the case, then a solid performance that yields a draw Sunday might be the best-case scenario. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-good-bad-and-thought-provoking-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-1493769512375373493Sun, 16 Oct 2016 18:25:00 +00002016-10-16T14:25:36.257-04:00Alejandro BedoyaBrian CarrollCyle LarinFabian HerbersJim CurtinKakaKen TribbettMaurice EduMLS Cup PlayoffsOrlando CityPhiladelphia UnionWarren CreavalleUnion-Orlando City: Lineups from the playoff's doorstep<div style="text-align: center;"><b>UNION (4-2-3-1)&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Blake&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Fabinho-Marquez-Tribbett-Rosenberry&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Carroll -Bedoya&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Pontius-Barnetta-Herbers&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sapong&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bench</b><i>: McCarthy, Gaddis, Edu, Creavalle, Alberg, Ilsinho, Davies&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Orlando City (4-4-2)&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Bendik&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Ambrose-Hines-Aja-Ramos&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Kaka-Higuita-Nocerino-Perez Garcia&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Larin-Rivas&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bench</b><i>: Edwards, Redding, Alston, Carrasco, Molino, Baptista, Barry</i>&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20161015/home-win-could-end-unions-lengthy-playoff-drought" target="_blank">Preview&nbsp;</a></div><br />- A reminder of the playoff scenarios: The Union get in the playoffs officially with win and a loss or draw by New England. If the Union win and the Revs win, the Union go into the final weekend with a three-point edge and a monstrous advantage on goal differential. That means no champagne today, but it’s something. <br /><br />- If you hearken all the way back to the Union’s last game 15 days ago, <b>Jim Curtin </b>makes few changes. <b>Ken Tribbett </b>keeps his place without <b>Josh Yaro </b>fit to go. <b>Brian Carroll </b>is preferred to <b>Warren Creavalle </b>off international duty. <br /><br />- Interesting to consider what the Union see with <b>Maurice Edu </b>making the bench. He’s the only guy on the bench who can play center back sans Yaro. You could also see him as a late-game replacement in central midfield to defend a lead (say for <b>Fabian Herbers, Alejandro Bedoya </b>moved out wide). <br /><br />- For Orlando City, Curtin was right to be wary of formational changes. It’s a 4-4-2 this week, with <b>Kaka </b>nominally out wide. We’ll see how much he drops centrally and if that morphs into the diamond formation. <b>Cyle Larin </b>and <b>Carlos Rivas </b>will push the backline deep and create those pockets for Kaka and <b>Matias Perez Garcia </b>to operate. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/10/union-orlando-city-lineups-from.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-3937099127979227725Fri, 14 Oct 2016 05:07:00 +00002016-10-14T01:07:40.582-04:00Alejandro BedoyaEarnie StewartIlsinhoJay SugarmanMLSNick SakiewiczPhiladelphia UnionBetween the purse strings: Jay Sugarman on the Alejandro Bedoya transfer<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rwuUNGoBxW4/WABn2_sIUGI/AAAAAAAABGQ/xIXFkcFUP_UyDnrq2DdYZ8cJ5i_jJ8mIACLcB/s1600/20161013_170808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rwuUNGoBxW4/WABn2_sIUGI/AAAAAAAABGQ/xIXFkcFUP_UyDnrq2DdYZ8cJ5i_jJ8mIACLcB/s400/20161013_170808.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Union brass gathered Thursday for the unveiling of the Power Training Complex, <br />an expensive asset that isn't unlike their expenditure on Alejandro Bedoya. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Alejandro Bedoya</b> sat about 20 feet from the man who signs his checks Thursday afternoon, as <b>Jay</b> <b>Sugarman </b>stepped to the clear Plexiglass podium. <br /><br />The Philadelphia Union Chairman proceeded to discuss the rationale surrounding the building that brought the Union front office, ownership, players and a few hundred others to Chester, extolling the virtues of the<a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20161013/power-partnering-has-unions-sugarman-trumpeting-future" target="_blank"> Power Home Remodeling Training Complex</a>. <br /><br />The terms that Sugarman selected so carefully could’ve applied as much to the new multi-million-dollar facility as it did to the newly-minted million-dollar midfielder, the first in club history. <br /><br />Both were sizeable investments, massive on the scale of the Union’s history and substantial even by an MLS-wide lens. Both present risks. But both only made sense within a framework, the “well-articulated, cogently put together” strategy that new sporting director <b>Earnie Stewart </b>has assembled, to use Sugarman’s words. <br /><br />After the presentation with Power Home Remodeling execs and members of the Union ownership, Sugarman elaborated on the process that landed Bedoya in Philadelphia, <a href="http://www.espnfc.us/story/2922337/alejandro-bedoya-to-join-philadelphia-union-from-nantes-sources" target="_blank">an ordeal that dragged from last summer</a> when it appeared imminent prior to French club FC Nantes wanting to hang on to the midfielder, and was resuscitated successfully this season. <br /><br />Instrumental to the process is the evolving relationship between Sugarman and Stewart, hired as the point person for soccer matters last December. <br /><br />“I think with Earnie, we have a great, open relationship,” Sugarman told reporters. “I said, ‘look, are you telling me this is going to lead to a championship? Is this the player you’re going to build around?’ And he said, ‘yes,’ and I said, ‘go do it.’” <br /><br />The Bedoya transfer saga was protracted over multiple transfer windows. By this summer, at the risk of losing the opportunity a second time, Sugarman pulled the trigger. The increased gravitas of Stewart helped swing the pendulum. <br /><br />“I think last year, we were at this point and there was seller’s remorse,” Sugarman said. “It just didn’t happen. I think given how clear the plan is this year going forward of what we want and what we need, the pieces just seem to fall into place. It was expensive, there’s no question. We had a lot of conversations about, how do you manage the MLS budget, and I think the conclusion continued to be, is this going to lead us to the place we want to get to? If this is the right player, then go get it done. We stopped quibbling about $50,000, $100,000, $200,000 and said, ‘this is the right player, go get it done.’” <a name='more'></a><br />Sugarman has taken his lumps in the court of Union public opinion. He’s not a dyed in the wool soccer guy, and he’s not a Philadelphia native, two traits unconducive to leading a Philadelphia soccer club. That led to aspersions of absenteeism cast in years past, as his former steward of the club, <b>Nick</b> <b>Sakiewicz</b>, left much to be desired in the management department. <br /><br />The appointment of Stewart, whom Sugarman had a significant role in vetting, signaled a chance for Sugarman to pivot, as well. The New York businessman has become much more visible around Talen Energy Stadium. He’s more vocal about his team, and while he doesn’t often seek out the spotlight, he’s gracious in discussing matters surrounding his team with the media. <br /><br />“I have lots of views,” he said with an amiable tone. “You guys have never heard them, but I have lots of views on what you can do in MLS to really outpace your competition in other ways than money. But you have to build around that championship character. You have to have somebody you can say, look they know how to win. And I think Earnie really believes that. He looks at our team and he likes guys on our team that he thinks are winners, that have been there. He brings in a <b>Tranquillo</b> (<b>Barnetta</b>), he brings in an <b>Ilsinho</b>, he brings in an Alejandro. … <br /><br />“I understand that. You need to build around character first, and (Earnie’s) got a very clear vision of how Alejandro’s going to help lead us over the next few years, along with the other guys we have, to the place we want to get to. I don’t know if that’s his left foot or his right foot or his jumping ability or his heading or his technical skills; I just have one-note questions. Is he going to make us a better team? Are we going to win a championship around the player? And I trust Earnie’s judgement on that.” <br /><br />From the outside, signing a million-dollar player seems a monumental step in the growth of a team with a short track record of MLS success. Sugarman didn’t see it in quite such black-and-white terms. <br /><br />But he does see a clear delineation between the structure that exists now and what used to be in place. <br /><br />“I don’t think there was ever a ceiling on what we were willing to spend,” Sugarman said. “It was, how does this fit into the strategy? Why does this make sense? Is this player going to make all the players around him better? It was hard for me to want to do that when nobody could articulate what that strategy was. <br /><br />“With Earnie, I feel much more comfortable. I know what he’s trying to achieve. I know where the pieces seem to make sense. I’m going to ask him the three of four things that I need to ask, and if it’s the right things to do, we’re going to find the money. <br /><br />“Money follows strategies that are well-articulated, cogently put together, that I can understand as a person who now actually knows a lot about soccer. Why is this going to make it better – better now, better tomorrow, better in the long-term? As I said, I’m going to trust Earnie’s judgement, but I’m going to verify. I want to understand why this is going to help; I’m not just going to turn the keys over as I did in the first couple of years.” http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/10/between-purse-strings-jay-sugarman-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-7540584774232445172Wed, 05 Oct 2016 18:24:00 +00002016-10-05T14:24:47.838-04:00Alejandro BedoyaAndre BlakeAuston TrustyDerrick JonesIlsinhoJim CurtinJosh YaroKevin KratzMaurice EduPhiladelphia UnionWarren CreavalleTraining notes: Good news on Yaro, Bedoya and mentality<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o_XY83Qk4Rg/V_VFFPTQ-FI/AAAAAAAABFs/66hKWMvv2hYHkk6RGLBwRhoFNlayrmXDQCLcB/s1600/AP_16255011945726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o_XY83Qk4Rg/V_VFFPTQ-FI/AAAAAAAABFs/66hKWMvv2hYHkk6RGLBwRhoFNlayrmXDQCLcB/s400/AP_16255011945726.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Union's Alejandro Bedoya, center, is recovering well from a rib injury <br />unrelated to this knock against Montreal Sept. 10. Manager Jim Curtin <br />expects him to be fine for the Oct. 16 visit from Orlando. (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The Philadelphia Union’s squad was a tad thin Wednesday during the international window, with <b>Andre Blake </b>(Jamaica), <b>Warren Creavalle </b>(<a href="http://guyanachronicle.com/golden-jaguars-intensify-preparations/" target="_blank">Guyana</a>), <b>Derrick Jones </b>and <b>Auston Trusty </b>(<a href="http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2016/09/30/15/34/160930_u20mnt-ramos-names-22-player-u20-mnt-roster-for-2016-four-nations-tournament" target="_blank">U.S. Under-20</a>) away on international duty. But the team put in a lengthy morning session in the first of a double-workout day. I chatted with new signing <b>Kevin Kratz, </b>and I’ll have that story posted soon. A few quick hits: <br /><br />- Manager<b> Jim Curtin </b>is keeping his team’s mentality as even-keeled as possible in the face of a five-game winless streak and a slide to sixth in the Eastern Conference. The Union <a href="http://bit.ly/2dnmmtE" target="_blank">control their destiny</a> and require a home-field meltdown to miss the playoffs, so the group remains confident. From the manager: <br /><blockquote><i>“Obviously it was a road trip where it didn’t go the way we wanted. Obviously the three games, three difficult places to play, we’re disappointed with the amount of points we took, only taking one in Toronto. So you step back and you’re frustrated in that regard, but you do know you have two home games at the end of the season, which is good. I think we had stretches in all three games – in Portland, in Toronto and in Red Bull (Arena) – of good soccer, but we didn’t put together 90 minutes, and we got punished in some areas of those games. The goal now is, we know that we’ve been a good team at home, that if we play at the level we’re capable of and we get back to just the basics and putting together the complete 90 minutes, we still like our chances at home to get a result.” </i></blockquote>As to whether or not the week off helps, Curtin’s not sure, though he’s grateful for the chance to reinforce certain points (cough, set-piece defending, cough) and recuperate. Curtin: <br /><blockquote><i>“I don’t have the perfect answer. This does give us a little bit of time to work on some things. Obviously defensively we can tighten things up. Giving three goals up on the road is something where we can look at the film and get some things corrected. I think it’s good to have the extra week. We obviously have a couple of guys that got banged up, so it comes at a good time. … It’s a strange time to have a bye for sure, I think for every team right now. But at the same time, it falls at a good time for us. We can regroup and know exactly what we need to do at home.” <a name='more'></a></i></blockquote>- <b>Josh Yaro </b>was with the group and jogging lightly, though he didn’t train. Curtin was optimistic about the defender’s status after a second concussion in the last month sustained Saturday. “He’s bouncing back quicker than the docs expected,” Curtin said. “He’s being evaluated now by the docs. He’s in the normal concussion protocol similar to the last time he went through it, going through all the steps. The hope is to have him back in training by Tuesday.” There had been external speculation as to whether Yaro could be shut down for the season, but Curtin hasn’t seen anything to indicate that measure and believes Yaro could yet play a part. “I’ll do what the doctors tell me and how they advise is how I’ll handle that,” Curtin said, the implication that the medical staff hasn’t suggested a shutdown. <br /><br />- <b>Alejandro Bedoya </b>worked with the training staff inside on his rib injury and joined the group to jog through the last section of practice. Curtin met a question on the American midfielder’s status with a resolute, “He’ll be fine.” Bedoya, <a href="http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2016/10/03/15/12/161003-mnt-alejandro-bedoya-withdraws-from-training-camp-in-miami" target="_blank">who withdrew from</a> the U.S. squad traveling to Cuba for a friendly Friday, could be in the mix to play for the U.S. Tuesday in a friendly with New Zealand in Washington D.C., per Curtin. U.S. manager <b>Jurgen Klinsmann </b>has said <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/10/02/jurgen-klinsmann-calls-23-including-8-mlsers-october-friendlies" target="_blank">he could shuttle players in and out of the squad</a> for the two matches. <br /><br />- <b>Ilsinho </b>worked off to the side in managing his plantar fasciitis. Curtin said he’s nearing a return. The Brazilian hasn’t started a game since Aug. 20, missing three games in that span. <br /><br />- As a corollary to the Yaro situation, Curtin was asked if <b>Maurice Edu, </b>whom he swears is nearing a return, is an option as a reserve center back or if that’s Trusty’s position. Trusty has twice made the 18. (You’ll notice the absence of Anderson from these conversations completely.) Here’s Curtin’s response on the age-old “Edu as center back quandary”: <br /><blockquote><i>“It’s a fair question. We signed Auston for a reason, because we believe that he can do the job. It would be a big spot for a young guy, but it’s one that we’ve been comfortable playing young players. It’s a situation we’ll evaluate as the weeks go on, see where Josh is. Ideally, hopefully, he is ready to go. If you wanted to speculate and not have him available, you’d lean toward just having Auston be the guy that is the third just because it’s his natural position and it’s something that’s easy for him.” </i></blockquote>http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/10/training-notes-good-news-on-yaro-bedoya.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-1642290543644887994Mon, 03 Oct 2016 19:24:00 +00002016-10-03T15:24:04.033-04:00Columbus CrewD.C. UnitedJim CurtinMLS Cup PlayoffsMontreal ImpactNew England RevolutionOrlando CityPhiladelphia UnionThe good news in the Union's recent swoonI don’t suppose telling Philadelphia Union fans that all is rosy with life will take very well on the heels of a five-game winless streak, the last installment of which was an enthralling yet <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20161001/playoff-atmosphere-belies-another-costly-union-loss" target="_blank">disappointing 3-2 loss at Red Bull Arena</a>. <br /><br />But unlike <b>Jim Curtin’s </b>insistence that his team is playing well despite the <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20161002/poise-lacking-in-unions-late-season-swoon" target="_blank">avalanche of substandard results</a> (which has some nugget of truth to it, but not the right time or place), here’s an even more uplifting message: The table is in the Union’s favor. <br /><br />We all know that #<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=tabledoesntlie&amp;src=typd" target="_blank">Tabledoesntlie</a>, and in this case, that’s an OK thing. Here’s what <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings" target="_blank">the standings look like</a>:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ksNpIyR7_XU/V_KwBeDe6WI/AAAAAAAABFQ/5SsmmSh2zngWel6aBkJUDcgheBa3GnKJQCLcB/s1600/Standings.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ksNpIyR7_XU/V_KwBeDe6WI/AAAAAAAABFQ/5SsmmSh2zngWel6aBkJUDcgheBa3GnKJQCLcB/s400/Standings.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I’ll spare you the bar-graph projections that for weeks have pegged the Union as hanging on to fourth place on the balance of their schedule and now that they’re in sixth place will tell you that they’re going to hang on to sixth place. Those trends are helpful as long-term probabilities, but they’re useless in determining what will happen when presented with three discreet options (3 points, 1 or 0) on the field. <br /><br />So here it is: Everyone in the East has two games left, save for Columbus and eliminated Chicago. If the Union beat eliminated Orlando City Oct. 16, they’re in. The Red Bulls game could be useful only for seeding a qualified team. <br /><br />A win by the Union takes them to 45 points. That eliminates Columbus; even if Columbus wins out in its last three games, starting with Chicago Oct. 13, it can max out at 44 points. <br /><br />A win by the Union also means that New England is essentially done, even if the Union can’t get a point against Red Bulls the following week. Let’s assume the Union beat Orlando City and lose to Red Bulls, leaving them at 12-13-9 and 45 points. <br /><br />The Revs can win out (over Chicago and Montreal, the latter of which might actually aid the Union) and reach 45 points. That would make them 12-13-9. That ushers in <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/playoff-format-tiebreakers" target="_blank">the tiebreakers</a>, which everyone should get familiar with. First is total wins, which is even. <br /><br />Second is goal differential: The Union are plus-1 (figure safely, in this scenario, they’ll stay at plus-1 with a one-goal win over Orlando and a one-goal loss to Red Bulls). The Revs are currently minus-12. It would take a monumental shift in fortunes for the Union to give back that differential. <br /><br />We can also talk about playoff seeds, which don’t help the Union quite as much. D.C. United hosts NYC, MLS’s best road team, before finishing up in Orlando City. You could see D.C. yielding only two points from that run or six based on their recent form. Montreal hosts a Toronto team desperate for a result and angry over Montreal’s last visit to TFC before hitting the road to meet the Revs. Who knows what the Impact, a team at the forefront of puzzling results this season, could get from that pair? <br /><br />It’s entirely possible you could see three teams even on 46 points on the final day, one of whom gets the fourth spot. But the most important takeaway is that the Union should – if they take care of business – be among that group, which accomplishes the stated goal at the beginning of the season.http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-good-news-in-unions-recent-swoon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-8339509399816853983Sat, 01 Oct 2016 22:21:00 +00002016-10-01T18:21:36.686-04:00Alejandro BedoyaFelipeJosh YaroKeegan RosenberryMaurice EduMike GrellaNew York Red BullsPhiladelphia UnionTranquillo BarnettaRed Bulls-Union: Lineups and prematch observations<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Union (4-2-3-1)&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Blake&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Fabinho-Marquez-Yaro-Rosenberry&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Creavalle-Bedoya&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Pontius-Barnetta-Herbers&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sapong&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bench</b><i>: McCarthy, Tribbett, Gaddis, Carroll, Fernandes, Davies, Alberg.&nbsp;</i><br /><i>&nbsp;</i><b>Red Bulls (4-2-3-1)&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Robles&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Lawrence-Collin-Perrinelle-Duvall&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Felipe-McCarty&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Grella-Kljestan-Muyl&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>B.Wright-Phillips&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bench</b><i>: Reynish, Zizzo, Long, Davis, S.Wright-Phillips, Veron, Damari</i>&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/09/30/with-playoffs-sight-union-nyrb/" target="_blank">Preview</a> &amp; <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/09/30/playoff-scenarios-who-can-clinch-and-be-eliminated-weekend?utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=News&amp;utm_campaign=Unpaid" target="_blank">Playoff scenarios</a>&nbsp;</div><br />- <b>Tranquillo Barnetta</b> is back in the lineup for the Union, which moves them away from the double pivot in central midfield that worked last week in Toronto. But the better possession side, with <b>Warren Creavalle </b>as the 6, <b>Alejandro Bedoya </b>as the 8 and Barnetta is the better bet against the Red Bulls’ high pressure. <br /><br />- It’s intriguing that <b>Maurice Edu </b>isn’t in the 18, but that could be out of necessity rather than an injury setback to the midfielder. With <b>Ilsinho </b>not fit, the Union would’ve had only two attacking options on the bench. Instead of a redundant No. 6 in Edu (with <b>Brian Carroll </b>there), <b>Jim Curtin </b>goes with <b>Leo Fernandes, </b>who’s played all of 93 MLS minutes since April 1. <br /><br />- On defense, <b>Josh Yaro </b>returns, an interesting decision to swap him in for the <b>Ken Tribbett, </b>who played well last week. <b>Fabian Herbers </b>also keeps his spot in the lineup, and deservedly so. <br /><br />- Speaking of rookies, <b>Keegan Rosenberry </b>can make history today. If he goes 90 minutes, he’ll tie Michael Parkhurst for the most minutes played by an MLS rookie (SuperDraft or Homegrown) since 2001. He’s on pace to be just one of three rookies since 2002 to play every minute for his team as a rookie.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tEIbDD-WYek" width="560"></iframe> - The Red Bulls started a mostly reserve side Tuesday in Guatemala for a CONCACAF Champions League title with Antigua GFC. But four starters – <b>Aurelien Collin, Luis Robles, Mike Grella </b>and <b>Felipe </b>– turn around for the start today. Felipe, Collin and Robles played in last week’s win over the Impact. Grella is back in for <b>Daniel Royer, </b>and in addition to the Route 1 threat via that midfield nucleus to <b>Sacha Kljestan </b>to <b>Bradley Wright-Phillips, </b>those wingers off a nuanced. Grella is also a reason to get into your seats quickly for the start of the game.http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/10/red-bulls-union-lineups-and-prematch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-4947648173604994641Fri, 30 Sep 2016 18:58:00 +00002016-09-30T14:58:19.762-04:00Alejandro BedoyaAuston TrustyBrian CarrollCharlie DaviesDerrick JonesKeegan RosenberryKevin KratzMLSPhiladelphia UnionSebastien Le TouxVincent NogueiraUnion on Union: Players salaries for September<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TsvmZ1Pbwnk/V-6zcpw331I/AAAAAAAABEw/-LNkFEuHf88oRDugpOSs7anxBOj0aL7hACLcB/s1600/AP_16255012058925%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TsvmZ1Pbwnk/V-6zcpw331I/AAAAAAAABEw/-LNkFEuHf88oRDugpOSs7anxBOj0aL7hACLcB/s400/AP_16255012058925%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to the MLS Players Union, we can say for sure that Alejandro Bedoya <br />is the best compensated player in franchise history. (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Do you feel that little nip in the air on a Friday in September? That’s the MLS Players Union letting you know that it’s <a href="http://www.mlsplayers.org/salary_info.html" target="_blank">newest batch of salary information is out</a>. The final numbers for the 2016 season were released Friday, reflective of each teams’ final salary commitments after the roster freeze enacted in mid-September. <br /><br />The summer’s action has been more intensive than usual for the Philadelphia Union, with the arrival of <b>Alejandro Bedoya, </b>the exit of <b>Vincent Nogueira </b>and <b>Sebastien Le Toux </b>and a couple of other moves. So here’s the Union’s current salary picture (grouped in fives for ease of reading; figures are “base salary/guaranteed compensation”): <br /><br /><b>Senior roster (20 spots) </b><br />Roland Alberg $328,000/$377,250 <br />Fabinho $142,000/$150,008 <br />Eric Ayuk $62,500/$62,500 <br />Tranquillo Barnetta $650,000/$709,100 <br />Alejandro Bedoya $1,100,004/$1,166,254 <br /><br /> Brian Carroll $120,000/$128,000 <br />Anderson $150,000/$174,166 <br />Warren Creavalle $118,000/$125,666 <br />Charlie Davies $108,937/$113,315 <br />Maurice Edu $725,000/$793,750 <br /><br /> Leo Fernandes $63,000/$63,000 <br />Ray Gaddis $150,000/$152,500 <br />Ilsinho $430,000/$478,333 <br />Matt Jones $75,000/$80,625 <br />Kevin Kratz $62,508/$76,758 <br /><br /> Richie Marquez $63,000/$63,000 <br />John McCarthy $79,000/$88,250 <br />Chris Pontius $380,000/$411,000 <br />Walter Restrepo $125,000/$139,500 <br />CJ Sapong $225,000/$225,000 <br /><br /><b> Supplemental Roster (8 spots)</b><br />Andre Blake $100,000/$138,000 <br />Fabian Herbers $100,000/$125,500 <br />Josh Yaro $130,000/$194,000 <br />Derrick Jones $51,504/$57,404 <br /> Auston Trusty $51,500/$80,604 <br /><br />Ken Tribbett $51,500/$51,500 <br />Taylor Washington $51,500/$51,500 <br />Keegan Rosenberry $62,500/$68,312 <br /><br /> <b>Off </b><br />Cole Missimo $51,500/$51,500* <br />* Season-long loan to Bethlehem Steel. <br /><br /> <b>Total salary budget (1-20)</b>: $5,156,949/$5,527,975 <br /><b>Total budget (1-28)</b>: $5,755,453/$6,294,791 <br /><b>Total expenditure (w/ off-budget)</b>: $5,806,953/$6,346,291 <br /><br />Some highlights:<br /><a name='more'></a><br />- The new numbers are the obvious point off attention. <b>Alejandro Bedoya </b>is officially the highest paid player in Union history with a total guaranteed compensation of $1.116 million. As a designated player, he only counts $450k against the salary cap. <b>Charlie Davies' </b>numbers were known from New England, while <b>Kevin Kratz </b>makes the veteran minimum of $62,000 with a slight bump in guaranteed compensation as is standard in such international cases. <br /><br />- There are also two Homegrown signings. Both <b>Derrick Jones </b>and <b>Auston Trusty </b>are at the rookie minimum of $51,500 for salary-cap purposes. Trusty’s guaranteed compensation, however, is higher at $80,600, likely an enticement to shun his college scholarship offer/rumored European interest. <br /><br />- We also have to look at what money the Union shed this summer. Between <b>Sebastien Le Toux </b>($300k/$310,228), <b>Vincent Nogueira </b>($400k) and <b>Michael Lahoud </b>($110,000/$115,637), $810,000 comes off the salary cap, $825,865 in guaranteed comp. <br /><br />- Here's the net change from the May numbers: The Union’s salary budget in May was $4.523 million/$4.820 million. The September figures constitute a 14 percent increase from May. On total expenditures, which includes supplemental roster and off-budget players, the Union are shelling out $5.806 million/$6.346 million. That’s an increase of 10.8 percent/11.8 percent from May. It’s important to note that the Union employ two more players now than in May. <br /><br />- There are a handful of raises involved, though none altered a player's base salary. <b>Fabinho </b>and <b>Tranquillo Barnetta </b>increased compensation, likely a type of service-time bonus for players who signed during summer windows. <b>Brian Carroll </b>and <b>Keegan Rosenberry </b>both got bumps, which could owe to incentive-laden deals. <b>John McCarthy </b>received a $3k raise, while Anderson (remember him?) makes about $9k more. (Oh, what a read those transcontinental loan deals must be.) Barnetta, whose compensation increased $22,000, is the only one garnering a raise over $10k. <br /><br />- There’s some assumption on my part in who’s on the senior/supplemental roster. Eric Ayuk and Keegan Rosenberry are interchangeable. Richie Marquez could also be there. (Stipulation is league minimum players age 24 or younger by birth year.) <br /><br />- This is the first time I can recall since 2012 that the Union exceed four combined Homegrowns and Generation Adidas players. It’s a fairly trivial distinction as to who is in the 24th position on the roster and who is 25th between the HGPs. <br /><br />- Even though he’s no longer on the active roster via season-long loan to Bethlehem Steel, the Union are still on the hook for paying <b>Cole Missimo’s </b>$51,500 salary, which is still a remarkable reduction to past year’s on-loan budgets. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/09/union-on-union-players-salaries-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-3103600670763848564Tue, 27 Sep 2016 18:06:00 +00002016-09-27T14:06:40.977-04:00Alejandro BedoyaCharlie DaviesDerrick JonesFabian HerbersFC St. GallenIlsinhoJozy AltidoreKevin KratzLuciano AcostaPhiladelphia UnionRoland AlbergTranquillo BarnettaWarren CreavalleThe Swiss miss: Replacing Tranquillo Barnetta<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NATLr4Z7IUw/V-q0LcHtHyI/AAAAAAAABEQ/TIMfQY2PIv8i-jhe7aAnZcpSS3qomqH9wCLcB/s1600/AP_16255012445558%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NATLr4Z7IUw/V-q0LcHtHyI/AAAAAAAABEQ/TIMfQY2PIv8i-jhe7aAnZcpSS3qomqH9wCLcB/s400/AP_16255012445558%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>At season's end, Tranquillo Barnetta will be headed back to Switzerland. <br />How might the Union replace his sizeable contributions? (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> The Philadelphia Union, in a surprisingly and laudably proactive announcement Tuesday morning, revealed that <b>Tranquillo Barnetta </b><a href="http://bit.ly/2d7mICR" target="_blank">will be leaving at the end of the 2016 season</a> to rejoin the club of his youth, FC St. Gallen in Switzerland. <br /><br />The possibility was long mooted, with Barnetta’s contract purposefully drawn up at 18 months from last summer to offer both club and player the flexibility to escape and the acquisition of <b>Alejandro Bedoya, </b>a player capable of playing the No. 10 role. <br /><br />Barnetta will be missed, as he’s been an exemplary player over 37 games (plus whatever’s left this regular/postseason) and ambassador for the club. The “why” of the timing is fairly clear, with Barnetta having achieved his objective of an American experience and wanting to have something left in the tank for St. Gallen, but I’ll leave Barnetta to speak for himself if he’s available after training Wednesday. <br /><br />I’ll stand by the declaration last summer that he’s the most decorated player the Union have ever acquired, and even with Bedoya, <b>Charlie Davies </b>and <b>Ilsinho </b>since joining, Barnetta retains that title with his wealth of Bundesliga, European Champions League and three World Cups worth of experience. <br /><br />The conversation shifts as to how to replace Barnetta, a discussion we can have now and then shift to the backburner as the Union’s late-season run plays out. When Bedoya was acquired in August, I posited a Barnetta-less future that would seamlessly integrate Bedoya <a href="http://bit.ly/2ayqmFU" target="_blank">into the No. 10 role instead of the No. 8</a> that he’s a less obvious fit for. From the blog: <br /><blockquote><i>That’s not to say the Union would move on from Barnetta. But if they can't resign him or wanted to divest themselves of a potentially redundant asset, Barnetta could make sense. Or Bedoya could be the starter with some combination of Alberg and Barnetta as reserves or on the wing. And it allows (Derrick) Jones, hailed as the No. 8 of the future, a chance to grow into the job. What better way for him to do that than sandwiched between Edu and Bedoya?</i></blockquote>Let’s alter the thinking somewhat. I’ll follow the lead of my colleague, <b>Kevin Kinkead, </b>in this. If you’re replacing Barnetta and have the $700k or so of salary cap flexibility, what could the Union get? <br /><a name='more'></a><br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">Blake<br />Rosenberry, Yaro, Marquez, Fabinho<br />Carroll<br />Bedoya, Barnetta, Pontius<br />Herbers, Sapong<br /><br />4-4-2 diamond <a href="https://t.co/xMtxdp0AWB">https://t.co/xMtxdp0AWB</a></div>— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kevin_Kinkead/status/778227912277393409">September 20, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /><br />Manager Jim Curtin made a point <a href="http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2016/09/25/postgame-quotes-toronto-1-1-union/" target="_blank">after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Toronto</a> to mention how difficult it is to play against two forwards, in this case <b>Jozy Altidore </b>and <b>Jordan Hamilton</b>/<b>Mo Babouli</b>. In a league overwhelmingly gravitating toward the 4-2-3-1 like moths to a flame, could the Union exploit this tactical nuance? (I’m trying not to ask if the 4-4-2 <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/community/baseballs-biggest-market-inefficiency/" target="_blank">is a market inefficiency</a>, but let’s go full on Moneyball.) <br /><br />So let’s think about this formation:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D4yaxUr1Mn8/V-q0eCs4guI/AAAAAAAABEU/a3x4QuDOEPgRiW52IVBn2JpTG3JGi4WswCLcB/s1600/PostBarnetta.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D4yaxUr1Mn8/V-q0eCs4guI/AAAAAAAABEU/a3x4QuDOEPgRiW52IVBn2JpTG3JGi4WswCLcB/s400/PostBarnetta.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><br />We can quibble about some of the positional battles (<b>Josh Yaro/Ken Tribbett</b>; <b>Derrick Jones/Warren Creavalle</b>/expansion draft protection). And nomenclature is a little sketchy. You can call this a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-1-4-1 depending on who plays the No. 8. <br /><br />But in this scenario, you’re looking for a “Player X” who can score, can play off the shoulder of a striker and can offer flexibility. The reality is that since the departure of <b>Vincent Nogueira, </b>the Union have essentially attacked with the front four, and they’ve been efficient at creating chances. So you want someone as Barnetta’s replacement to be a chance creator who can also finish. I think of it somewhat in the <b>Luciano Acosta </b>role <a href="http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-09-24-dc-united-vs-orlando-city-sc/lineup" target="_blank">at D.C. United</a>: A guy who can get into the box and be dangerous but also pass and pull strings from deeper. <br /><br />That’s a big ask, I know, though $700k isn’t chump change to find it. But the reason for the flexibility is simple. The player I’m describing kind of sounds like <b>Roland Alberg. </b>It kinds of sounds like something <b>Fabian Herbers </b>can do. And it may be what <b>Kevin Kratz </b>can do. From that established skillset, is there a players that can be a complement or counterpoint? <br /><br />It’s also easily swappable. Down a goal? Throw Davies (pending his continued presence with the club) in and you make one change to go straight 4-4-2. Need more defense? Push Bedoya inside with Ilsinho or someone else on the wing. <br /><br />There are a lot of conversations to be had not in the coming weeks but in the weeks after the Union’s season comes to its natural conclusion. While losing Barnetta stings, it’s neither unexpected nor irrecoverable, and it leaves the Union well-positioned to explore new opportunities. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-swiss-miss-replacing-tranquillo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-770615012320833605Mon, 26 Sep 2016 17:50:00 +00002016-09-26T13:50:58.714-04:00Conor CaseyEarnie StewartJim CurtinJohn HackworthMLS Cup PlayoffsPeter NowakPhiladelphia UnionToronto FCThe daunting dozen: The Union's harrowing late-season history<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CbRwdFYGx-k/V-lfm_Lc7HI/AAAAAAAABDw/7FiI3p94hogP5N3IlvCctKuD2HYoXehRgCLcB/s1600/MLS%2BImpact%2BUnion%2BSocc_McNi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CbRwdFYGx-k/V-lfm_Lc7HI/AAAAAAAABDw/7FiI3p94hogP5N3IlvCctKuD2HYoXehRgCLcB/s400/MLS%2BImpact%2BUnion%2BSocc_McNi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This late season stumble by Andre Blake and the Union <br />at the hands of Montreal's Matteo Mancosu has become the norm <br />for the club in recent years. (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table>There’s an exclusive club that the Philadelphia Union belong to, one they’d love to graduate from, one whose membership dues are being paid again this fall in accordance with a familiar and dispiriting pattern. <br /><br />In MLS history, two clubs have never won more than 12 games in a season. One is Orlando City, which won 12 games in its inaugural season of 2015 and guaranteed in Saturday night’s drubbing by D.C. United that it will miss the mark for another year, sitting at seven wins with four matches to play. <br /><br />The other is the Union, and the odds of the club escaping that miasma even in this resurgent season are getting slimmer with every passing non-win, even if Saturday's <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20160925/unions-draw-is-good-point-curtin-says" target="_blank">1-1 draw in Toronto</a> is objectively a positive result. <br /><br />The Union’s season-best for wins ominously endures at 12, set not in the playoff season of 2011 but in 2013, when the Union accumulated 46 points yet finished seventh in the East (they could end up fourth this year and in the playoffs with fewer points, but that’s another story). <br /><br />Looking at wins historically in MLS is fraught, given past practices like the shootout and vacillating schedule lengths. But if we narrow the scope to the parity-riddled expansion era of 34-game schedules since 2011, the Union’s lack of wins still resonates. Minus Orlando City and the Union, the other 18 extant MLS teams have not only won at least 13 games in a season at least once; they’ve all done so within the last four seasons. The longest such drought, beyond the Union, is Chicago and Colorado, each of whom won 14 games in 2013 and have struggled since. <br /><br />That means 16 clubs have authored a better season in the last three years – including this in-progress campaign – than the Union ever have. (And by the way, MLS’s three extinct franchises – Miami, Tampa Bay and Chivas – all have at least one season of 13 wins or more.) <br /><br />That may seem like piling on an undistinguished Union resume that needs no tarnishing. Edmund Burke never wrote about soccer, but the pertinence of this look back isn’t just trivial measurements. It’s the troubling trend it illustrates: The Union, as we’re seeing now, are atrocious at finishing seasons. <br /><a name='more'></a><br />Sometimes, the forces driving a low win total are benign. In 2011, for instance, the Union won 11 games but drew 15 times, gleaning valuable points in a season where a preponderance of draws drove down the threshold for playoff qualification. They still tallied a franchise-best 48 points. (It’s worth noting that the Union are bucking the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2016/09/20/hey-mls-nice-tie/" target="_blank">trend of rampant parity this season</a>, with an Eastern Conference-low nine draws.) <br /><br />The inability to soar past 12 wins is alarming. In 2011, they were flying high, in first place with <a href="http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/post/2011/07/18/recap-first-place-union-earn-decisive-3-0-win-new-england" target="_blank">eight wins by mid-July</a> and three and a half months left. They then embarked on an eight-game winless streak and finished the season winning just three of their last 15, or 17 if you include the playoff cameo.&nbsp; <br /><br />Eerily, 2012 played out the same way … you know, after <b>Peter Nowak </b>was fired and the <b>John Hackworth </b>bump furnished five wins in eight. That gave the Union seven victories by July 29, only slightly behind the 2011 pace. The response? An eight-game winless streak, and just three wins in their last 15. Can’t make this stuff up. <br /><br />The halcyon days of the <b>Conor Casey </b>era carried the 2013 Union to <a href="http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/post/2013/08/11/match-recap-conor-casey-puts-show-en-route-win-over-rival-dc-united" target="_blank">10 wins by Aug. 10</a>. They imploded, winless in the next five and victorious in three of 12 to end the string. The 2014 gamut culminated with one win in seven, five of which came at home. And last season is shrouded in the Open Cup hangover, but it actually propelled the Union to an uncharacteristically strong – yet ultimately fruitless – finish with four wins in nine. <br /><br />This could all become a footnote in the previous chapters of the Union’s existence, written by people summarily dismissed from the club, if it wasn’t echoing into the future. The Union recorded <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20160709/SPORTS/160709676" target="_blank">its eighth win this season July 9</a>; it appeared to be a matter not of if but how far they would surmount that 12-win standard. <br /><br />In 12 games since, they’ve won three times and are in the midst of a four-game winless run (0-2-2). With three games left, the haunting specter of the three-wins-in-15 finish remains improbably in play, though even that <a href="http://www.sportsclubstats.com/USA/Union.html" target="_blank">probably can’t keep the Union from the playoffs</a>.<br /><br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">The MLS playoff situation after tonight. Union 6 points clear 7th place New England <a href="https://t.co/9te41xFPJq">pic.twitter.com/9te41xFPJq</a></div>— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsdoctormd/status/780212762714763264">September 26, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <br /><br />Before the season, being in this position as September winds down was the stated objective of the Union’s new regime. But the goalposts have been moved by the Union’s early-season achievement, and accruing late-season momentum in the pursuit of a postseason run – not merely a token, one-and-done appearance – is the refined objective.<br /><br />As with everything else the Union have done this year, achieving that new goal requires upending a lot of bad history. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-daunting-dozen-unions-harrowing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-800617408191354046Wed, 21 Sep 2016 18:56:00 +00002016-09-21T14:56:16.153-04:00Brian CarrollCharlie DaviesCJ SapongJim CurtinJosh YaroKen TribbettKevin KratzMaurice EduPhiladelphia UnionTranquillo BarnettaWarren CreavalleFrom Portland to Toronto: Union training notes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_z0woRKcM_g/V-LXhUgkuPI/AAAAAAAABCU/mKL1V2OnLfABpRZQ6b4Cz6UXmymOAFe1ACLcB/s1600/AP_678415117018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_z0woRKcM_g/V-LXhUgkuPI/AAAAAAAABCU/mKL1V2OnLfABpRZQ6b4Cz6UXmymOAFe1ACLcB/s400/AP_678415117018.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Union manager Jim Curtin lauded new signing Kevin Kratz, center, <br />for his intelligence and versatility in midfield. (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Sandwiched between a loss in Portland and a daunting trip to Toronto, <b>Jim Curtin </b>addressed plenty of odds and ends Wednesday in his weekly press conference. Here are some highlights: <br /><br />- Two injury absences from training: <b>Tranquillo Barnetta </b>has some swelling after a knee-to-knee collision with <b>Fanendo Adi </b>last week. He’s getting a scan and sat out the Wednesday morning session, but Curtin said, “I don’t expect him to miss the weekend.” <b>Josh Yaro </b>is underdoing concussion protocols after sustaining a head injury in Portland. With Yaro suspended after “wrongly getting sent off” in Portland, there’s less immediacy to him passing that battery of tests. <br /><br />- <b>CJ Sapong, </b><a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20160918/SPORTS/160919672" target="_blank">as has been written</a>, hasn’t supplied many goals or shots in recent weeks, which seems too narrow a scope on which to criticize for Curtin. Despite Sapong’s lack of tangible statistical contributions, Curtin remains high on the things Sapong does to make those around him better, and it doesn’t sound like rest or a chance for <b>Charlie Davies </b>to start is in the offing. Curtin on Sapong: <br /><blockquote><i>“He brings a lot of things to our team. Again, it’s a little deceptive, one shot on target. I guess if you take that as a snapshot and you don’t really look any deeper, he still has created chances. … The margins in our league are very small. He’s still a forward that I very much believe in, a guy that brings a lot of intangibles to every game. He’s a big part of our success and one that we know will get going and get goals. Even if he doesn’t get goals, he’s going contribute and make everyone else’s job easier around him. Still very much a believer in CJ and what he’s about.” </i></blockquote>- Given the choice of sitting Sapong or morphing the formation to a 4-4-2 to accommodate minutes for Davies, Curtin seems to favor neither. “We don’t want to get too drastic now,” he said. “We’ve gone through 30 games with one system. We don’t want all of a sudden to completely change. Is it something that you could see if we’re down a goal and chasing a game? I think you could see a second striker in there. … We’re still a 4-2-3-1 team.”<br /><br />- At field level, the Talen Energy surface is being resodded after last week’s concert. Only the final third in the River End, where the main stage for the Rock Allegiance concert, appears to be getting the facelift. <br /><br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">Resodding underway at Talen Energy Stadium <a href="https://t.co/cUzDHuEh63">pic.twitter.com/cUzDHuEh63</a></div>— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsdoctormd/status/778623476303134720">September 21, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /><br /><a name='more'></a>- <b>Maurice Edu, </b>who played 59 minutes with Bethlehem Steel last week and has logged 181 minutes in three games with the Union affiliate, is in the conversation to make the trip to Toronto. But with Yaro suspended, <b>Ken Tribbett </b>will likely get the start in central defense with Edu available to deputize only in an emergency and his minutes much more likely to materialize in midfield. Curtin on the center back possibility: “He’s done that in an emergency situation. It’s crossed my mind. I’d like him to play in the six role. That’s the ideal role we’ve had for him. … It’s something he could do in a pinch, not ideally where we want to play him. But in an emergency situation, Mo would be a guy that I think has done that job and can do that job.” <br /><br />- On the <b>Kevin Kratz </b><a href="http://bit.ly/2ccS8p7" target="_blank">signing from last week</a>, Curtin mentioned nagging injuries to <b>Brian Carroll </b>(foot) and <b>Warren Creavalle </b>(knee) and uncertainty over Edu as impetus to add the German as cover (both Carroll and Creavalle trained fully Wednesday and made the 18 in Portland). The 29-year-old trained with the Union last week and is not available this week as he sorts out his visa, but he’s a low-risk option at the No. 6, 8 or 10 if injuries swamp the Union. Curtin: <br /><br /><blockquote><i>“Kevin’s a guy who, you see his quality in training, he can pass, good range of passing, good attacking, good defensively and an intelligent player. Good fit, good piece and I’m glad to have him on board officially. … He’s more of a thinker. He’s intelligent. He’s not a guy who’s 6-foot-4 and a bruiser and a tackler, he kind of does it by reading the game. Good feet, comfortable on the ball and again that decision making is what we like the best with him.” </i></blockquote>http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/09/from-portland-to-toronto-union-training.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-7183818153675246030Fri, 16 Sep 2016 15:46:00 +00002016-09-16T11:46:05.973-04:00Brian CarrollEarnie StewartEintracht BraunschweigKai HerdlingKevin KratzMaurice EduPhiladelphia UnionRoland AlbergTranquillo BarnettaMaking sense of the Kevin Kratz signing<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LTtkTBiODMo/V9wSuvbHG3I/AAAAAAAABBw/WUHq-U0s96IuSz3WokcsYcFoy3CQJpU_QCLcB/s1600/AP_715384710903.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LTtkTBiODMo/V9wSuvbHG3I/AAAAAAAABBw/WUHq-U0s96IuSz3WokcsYcFoy3CQJpU_QCLcB/s400/AP_715384710903.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kevin Kratz, left, from his days with Eintracht Braunschweig <br />playing against Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga in 2013, <br />seems an odd fit for the Union. (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Usually when the Philadelphia Union make a personnel move, this space is reserved for figuring out how he’ll fit in the team. Today, the objective is simpler: Make sense of what in the world <b>Kevin Kratz </b>is. <br /><br />The Union signed Kratz Thursday, hours ahead of the MLS roster freeze. Already with 28 players on the roster, they’ve loaned <b>Cole Missimo </b>to Bethlehem Steel for the rest of the season to accommodate Kratz. Where they are on internationals, who knows? It’s a moving target. <br /><br />Anyway, back to Kratz, who’s played in 277 matches in Germany. The plurality of those came in the 2.Bundesliga (108), most recently with SV Sandhausen. He has 14 games and one Bundesliga goal in Eintracht Braunschweig’s one top-division season in 2013-14. In short, he’s got a CV similar to what <b>Walter Restrepo’s </b>could look like in a few years. Or, honestly, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kai_Herdling" target="_blank">a slightly improved</a> <b>Kai Herdling.&nbsp;</b><br /><b><br /></b><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/166418463" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe><br /><a href="https://vimeo.com/166418463">Kevin Kratz 2015-16 Sandhausen (Bundesliga 2)</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user47281745">Justin Stone</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><b><br /></b><b></b>All that would be fine if not for: <br /><br />1.) The glut of midfielders the Union have; <br /><br />2.) The fact that <b>Maurice Edu’</b>s presumed return would put both <b>Brian Carroll </b>and <b>Warren Creavalle </b>on a bench that would also feature either <b>Tranquillo Barnetta </b>or <b>Roland Alberg </b>and now Kratz (Also, judging by this exhaustingly curated marketing video that for some reason <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F613dbnA_WE" target="_blank">brought this to mind</a>, he’s also played out wide a fair bit, another area of Union strength); <br /><br />3.) Its connection to the news <a href="http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2016/09/15/swiss-report-says-barnetta-asks-for-time-to-consider-contract-extension-notes-from-curtins-presser-more/" target="_blank">that Barnetta could be returning</a> to Switzerland after the season. <br /><a name='more'></a><br />The Barnetta news wasn’t exactly shocking this morning; his contract is up at the end of the season and while <a href="http://bit.ly/2cEyOSi" target="_blank">he’s earned his money in Philadelphia</a>, there’s no stopping him if he wants to go home. It’s not the first time most of us that cover the team have heard that sentiment in some form or another. <br /><br />But unless <b>Earnie Stewart </b>really knows something the rest of the soccer world doesn’t, Kratz isn’t the second coming of Barnetta. For instance, he’s got three goals in over 100 2.Bundesliga games. Barnetta has five goals this year. He’s got three just from the run of play. <br /><br />It sounds like Kratz was about to embark on the rounds of MLS/NASL camps, having <a href="https://twitter.com/MnNiceFC/status/776546630715658241" target="_blank">dropped in to Minnesota United</a> previously. He’s probably not fit to go at the moment, coming off an extended offseason. He brings versatility in midfield, athleticism and could be a serviceable player. <br /><br />Here’s the bottom line: The Union have Barnetta for five more games this season, plus playoffs. Enjoy it while he’s here, and then spend some time later figuring out where Kratz fits into the mix. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/09/making-sense-of-kevin-kratz-signing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-3537231426093474144Wed, 14 Sep 2016 17:55:00 +00002016-09-14T15:21:41.502-04:00Alejandro BedoyaJim CurtinJosh YaroPhiladelphia UnionRoland AlbergTranquillo BarnettaVincent NogueiraWarren CreavalleBedoya's impact more than a passing fad<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lysRcW7UxyM/V9mOvWJ8n7I/AAAAAAAABBI/-eHUCUyXclwMznKmflXUUKQQGxYwbjQEwCLcB/s1600/AP_16255012058925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lysRcW7UxyM/V9mOvWJ8n7I/AAAAAAAABBI/-eHUCUyXclwMznKmflXUUKQQGxYwbjQEwCLcB/s400/AP_16255012058925.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Midfielder Alejandro Bedoya, left, defending Montreal's Donny Toia <br />last Saturday, has improved the Philadelphia Union since arriving <br />in August. But how to quantify his impact? (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table>At the risk of attributing any credit to <b>Eric Wynalda</b>, <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/twitter-wars-eric-wynalda-vs-alejandro-bedoya.html" target="_blank">the question has been raised</a> in recent weeks if how to evaluate <b>Alejandro Bedoya’s </b>impact, for the national team and for his new club. For as stable a presence as Bedoya is over the last month for the Philadelphia Union, his impact can be enigmatic. It seems tough to avoid confirmation bias in projecting your expectations on Bedoya’s actual utility on the field. <br /><br />(Aside/disclaimer: I thought Bedoya was solid if unspectacular for the U.S. in recent World Cup qualifiers, a calming presence that contributed more to consecutive shutouts over overwhelmed opposition than to the attacking avalanche that swarmed it under.) <br /><br />The very nature of Bedoya’s position with the Union is difficult to assess for its all-encompassing nature. He’s not a pure attacking player, subject to those metrics. He’s not called upon for exclusively defensive roles, thus not fully summarized by those figures.<br /><br /><iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/281859570&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true" width="100%"></iframe><br /><br />Union manager <b>Jim Curtin </b>has always doled out his expectations of Bedoya in minute doses. Here’s an important one, <a href="http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2016/08/17/transcript-and-video-jim-curtins-weekly-press-conference-33/" target="_blank">Aug. 17 in appraising</a> Bedoya’s debut in the win over New England: <br /><blockquote><i>“I thought Alejandro brought a real calming presence to the group in possession, did a lot of the little things that maybe don’t show up on the stat sheet just to get us out of some tight spots, connect us from front to back. His fitness is gaining, is growing, so that’s a positive. But, we talked in the locker room before the game about everybody winning their individual battles and I thought, on the day, every guy, including the three reserves that came in, impacted the game and won their individual duels on the night.” </i></blockquote>Qualitatively, Bedoya can be credited with plenty of positives from the team success that he has, in some proportion, inspired. The Union are 3-1-1 in his five games. That’s 2.0 ppg with him, as opposed to 1.29 without (31 points in 24 games). They have scored 10 goals with him and allowed five, keeping two clean sheets. <br /><br />Individually, he’s made those around him better, unspecific as that praise is. <b>Warren Creavalle </b>has stitched together his best performances of the season as the No. 6 to Bedoya’s No. 8. Curtin has lavished praise on <b>Tranquillo Barnetta </b>as one of MLS’s <a href="https://twitter.com/DaveZeitlin/status/771026052638531584" target="_blank">best No. 10s</a>, accentuated <a href="https://twitter.com/Kevin_Kinkead/status/766270612977360898" target="_blank">by his linkup with</a> Bedoya. <br /><br />But what about the numbers? Here’s a look, via Opta Stats, at Bedoya’s passing numbers, the most readily available yardstick of his impact. <br /><br /><table frame="box" rules="rows" style="width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <th>Game</th> <th>Result</th> <th>Passes comp.</th> <th>Passes att.</th> <th>Passing %</th> <th>Successful passes <br />own half</th> <th>Successful passes <br />opp. half</th> <th>Successful passes <br />final third</th> <th>Passing %&nbsp; opp. half</th> </tr><tr> <th>at NE</th> <th>W 4-0</th> <th>44</th> <th>50</th> <th>88.0</th> <th>22</th> <th>22</th> <th>12</th> <th>84.6</th> </tr><tr> <th>Toronto</th> <th>L 3-1</th> <th>58</th> <th>65</th> <th>89.2</th> <th>23</th> <th>35</th> <th>13</th> <th>92.1</th> </tr><tr> <th>at Clb</th> <th>W 2-1</th> <th>48</th> <th>53</th> <th>87.8</th> <th>20</th> <th>28</th> <th>7</th> <th>87.5</th> </tr><tr> <th>SKC</th> <th>W 2-0</th> <th>50</th> <th>54</th> <th>92.6</th> <th>11</th> <th>39</th> <th>16</th> <th>95.1</th> </tr><tr> <th>Montreal</th> <th>D 1-1</th> <th>50</th> <th>55</th> <th>90.9</th> <th>26</th> <th>24</th> <th>14</th> <th>85.7</th> </tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Bedoya’s passing stats are impressive. He’s completing passes at an 89.3 percent clip, and he’s regularly near the team lead for touches in games. When you consider that the Union aren’t even 18 months removed from <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2015/04/05/armchair-analyst-midfield-struggles-tissue-issue-more-week-5" target="_blank">this passing nadir</a> against Sporting Kansas City <a href="http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2015-04-05-sporting-kansas-city-vs-philadelphia-union/stats" target="_blank">last April</a>, it’s all the more impressive a transformation. <br /><a name='more'></a><br />For comparison, the next highest passer on the Union this season is the man Bedoya replaced, <b>Vincent Nogueira, </b>at 85.9 percent. He’s followed by <b>Josh Yaro </b>(85.8) and <b>Roland Alberg </b>(85.4), while Barnetta, the temporary stand-in as the No. 8, is at 75.9 (though his passes are generally higher leverage and higher up the field).&nbsp; <br /><br />For a team that sits 10th in MLS in possession and 15th in pass completion, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/Anibal%20Godoi.%20%20https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/233/Tournaments/85/Seasons/6137/Stages/13276/TeamStatistics/USA-Major-League-Soccer-2016" target="_blank">per WhoScored</a>, his introduction as an influential midfield commander is magnified. (The Union have won the possession battle in three of Bedoya’s five games.) Among players with five or more MLS starts this season, Bedoya’s <a href="https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/233/Tournaments/85/Seasons/6137/Stages/13276/PlayerStatistics/USA-Major-League-Soccer-2016#stage-top-player-stats-passing" target="_blank">passing efficiency</a> ranks sixth, behind <b>Ozzie Alonso, Darlington Nagbe, Mohammed Saeid, Nicolai Naess </b>and <b>Anibal Godoi.&nbsp;</b><br /><b><br /></b>All those numbers are fine, but a completed pass is only as good as the danger content of said pass. (It’s great that Yaro, for instance, completed 90.5 percent of his passes against Montreal in Saturday’s 1-1 draw. But that’s not equivalent to the leverage gained by Bedoya completing 90 percent of his passes.) <br /><br />One criticism stems from pass directionality. As for where they originate, the table indicates that in three of his five starts, he’s completed decisively more passes in the opposition’s half of the field than in the Union’s half. Against Sporting KC <a href="http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-08-27-philadelphia-union-vs-sporting-kansas-city/boxscore" target="_blank">Aug. 27</a>, 78 percent of his passes came in the attacking half, and he completed them at a 95 percent clip. <br /><br />The spray chart from that SKC games also indicates that most of those passes were forward, answering the criticism that Bedoya plays laterally or backward too often. Really, that day illustrates a masterful performance for a No. 8 (though it finished against nine men, which certainly helped). Green passes are completed; red are unsuccessful.&nbsp; <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qJtHKGqsu58/V9l691aBSqI/AAAAAAAABA4/DDjFveOY2wUZnPWWQ961YHbNrxHPUOBEwCLcB/s1600/BedoyaSKC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qJtHKGqsu58/V9l691aBSqI/AAAAAAAABA4/DDjFveOY2wUZnPWWQ961YHbNrxHPUOBEwCLcB/s320/BedoyaSKC.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alejandro Bedoya passing chart vs. Sporting KC, Aug. 27. (via Opta Stats)</td></tr></tbody></table>Where Bedoya’s numbers confound are in the attacking half, and maybe this is a product of expectations. With the exception of the Columbus game, he’s registered at least 12 successful passes in the attacking third in each game. Yet he’s only generated three chances total. That’s driven down by the fact that he’s low in the pecking order for set-piece taking, and it also reflects the fact that the Union's front four attackers are capable of creating their own space in the attacking third while Bedoya is allowed to focus on preventing counterattacks.&nbsp; <br /><br />While Bedoya's attacking-third numbers may seem low, they're line with Nogueira's. In the Frenchman’s last sustained stretch of five games with the Union from April 16-May 14 (before an oblique injury and his release June 16), Nogueira created just one chance and scored a goal against L.A. <br /><br />Wherever on the continuum your opinion falls, one thing appears to be certain. The Union identified Bedoya as a key cog to acquire in part because of his ability to aid them keeping the ball. Replacing Nogueira with someone that helps to keep possession so adeptly has paid clear dividends. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/09/bedoyas-impact-more-than-passing-fad.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-6868313395805873304Sat, 10 Sep 2016 22:17:00 +00002016-09-10T18:17:56.969-04:00Alejandro BedoyaAndre Blake .Didier DrogbaEric KronbergEvan BushIgnacio PiattiJim CurtinMontreal ImpactPatrice BernierPhiladelphia UnionUnion-Impact: Lineups and pre-match observations<div style="text-align: center;"><b>UNION (4-2-3-1)</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Blake&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Fabinho-Marquez-Yaro-Rosenberry&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Creavalle-Bedoya&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Herbers-Barnetta-Pontius&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sapong&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bench</b><i>: McCarthy, Gaddis, Tribbett, Carroll, Ilsinho, Davies, Alberg&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Impact (4-2-3-1)&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Kronberg&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Oyongo-Ciman-Camara-Toia&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Bernardello-Donadel&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Ontivero-Bernier-Piatti&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Mancosu&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bench</b><i>: Crepeau, Cabrera, Bekker, Mallace, Shipp, Oduro, Drogba&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20160909/impact-of-unions-next-game-could-be-felt-in-postseason" target="_blank">Preview</a>&nbsp;</div><br />- <b>Jim Curtin </b>is restrained in the changes he makes after last week’s dour 3-0 loss in Chicago. Two of the three are obvious with the return of <b>Alejandro Bedoya </b>and <b>Andre Blake </b>from international duty. <b>Fabian Herbers </b>and <b>Warren Creavalle </b>retain their places despite pressure from healthy-again alternatives. <br /><br />- With <b>Josh Yaro </b>back from bereavement leave, the rookie replaces <b>Ken Tribbett. </b>You’ll recall that Yaro struggled mightily last time these teams played, the 5-1 Montreal win at Stade Saputo, that landed Yaro in a four-game exile to the bench in favor of Tribbett, until Tribbett was raked over the coals by Toronto and withdrawn after a disastrous first half. With <b>Didier Drogba </b>on the bench (more on that in a moment), Yaro’s speed seems the better call. <br /><br />- Montreal makes six changes from Wednesday’s 4-1 loss at home to Orlando City. The first in enforced, with <b>Evan Bush </b>suspended for a red card, serial backup <b>Eric Kronberg </b>in for a rare start. Drogba gets a rest at an opportune time for the Union, though <b>Matteo Mancosu </b>has been threatening in his opportunities. <b>Patrice Bernier </b>also plays higher up the pitch than usual in a defense posture for the visitors. <br /><br />- The big matchup to watch is on Montreal’s attacking left side. <b>Ignacio Piatti </b>will be running at the Union’s right-side defense of <b>Keegan Rosenberry </b>and Yaro. Rosenberry has built his MLS reputation with his composed man-on-man defense of players like Piatti in open space, and the selection of Yaro has something to do with countering the fleet-of-foot Piatti (and in eliminating Tribbett’s tardy/occasionally ill-advised steps up into midfield). http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/09/union-impact-lineups-and-pre-match.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-6457896706306930882Fri, 02 Sep 2016 18:08:00 +00002016-09-02T14:08:07.048-04:00Andre BlakeBrian SylvestreDavid OustedJamaican National TeamJim CurtinJoe BendikJohn McCarthyJosh SaundersPhiladelphia UnionAssessing Andre: Praise for Blake as he nears a season of MLS games<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Til_hjJB-uE/V8m_iafyjUI/AAAAAAAABAQ/jdEDh_k2vV4V5cbdQalRo5sh7MnAS62-ACLcB/s1600/AP_16211044531671.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Til_hjJB-uE/V8m_iafyjUI/AAAAAAAABAQ/jdEDh_k2vV4V5cbdQalRo5sh7MnAS62-ACLcB/s400/AP_16211044531671.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Union's Andre Blake, center, has played in major international tournaments <br />and an MLS All-Star Game. And he's just reaching a full season's worth <br />of games in MLS. (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table>It’s been almost three years since <b>Andre Blake</b> strode across the stage at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the first name called in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft by the host team, the Philadelphia Union. <br /><br />In the intervening years, Blake has established himself as the No. 1 for Jamaica and garnered speculation of whether Europe lies in his future. <br /><br />But while it feels like he’s been with the Union forever (at least long enough to see <a href="http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2015/08/fours-company-union-on-brink-of.html" target="_blank">five Union teammates play goal in MLS</a>), he’s nearing a significant milestone: Blake is one game shy of a season-long, 34-game sample on which to judge his talents. <br /><br />Here are Blake’s <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/players/andre-blake" target="_blank">career stats in MLS play</a>: <br /><br />33 games <br />114 saves/50 goals allowed <br />1.51 goals-against average <br />69.5 save percentage <br />8 clean sheets <br />12-13-8 record <br /><br />The stats have to be taken with a sizeable grain of salt. Blake has played 26 of the Union’s 27 games this season, which means around a quarter of his career was logged with behind losing soccer, dragging the stats down. Yet Union manager <b>Jim Curtin</b> is upbeat about Blake’s individual contributions, particularly as he’s sustained them over a long stretch to validate the talent that so many saw in the Jamaican. <br /><br />“He’s been excellent,” Curtin said Wednesday. “He’s a guy that you never know until you get your first full season, right? Still seven games left, but his body of work this year has been strong.” <br /><br />Among MLS goalies with 12 or more games <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/stats/season?year=2016&amp;group=saves" target="_blank">played this season</a>, Blake ranks 15th in goals-against average (1.50) and 17th in save percentage (66.9). That’s not exactly jump-off-the-page stuff, even if his GAA is better than either <b>Brian Sylvestre</b> (1.58) or<b> John McCarthy</b> (1.64) last season. And in the perception-vs.-reality debate, recall that Blake was comfortably elected to the All-Star Game via the fan vote, meaning that the Union staff isn't the only one that sees something special in his approach to the game.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />If you were to view Blake’s 33-game career total within the context of the <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/stats/season?franchise=select&amp;year=2015&amp;season_type=REG&amp;group=saves&amp;op=Search&amp;form_build_id=form-gh4R4pS5lgnHYpQ0bXMLxa0bProKnxzDshHzFFkcI7Y&amp;form_id=mp7_stats_hub_build_filter_form" target="_blank">2015 full season leaders</a>, the numbers look a little better. <br /><br />Among goalies who played 12 or more games last year, Blake’s career save percentage would’ve ranked ninth. His goals-against average would be 15th. <br /><br />But the crucial difference is in the saves category. Blake has made 81 saves in 2016, which ranks eighth in MLS. That’s a rate of 3.11 saves per game, as opposed to 3.45 per game over his career. The 114 career saves Blake has made would’ve tied for second-most in MLS last year, and that’s not a place a goalie wants to be. (For context, the top two goalies in saves this season – Orlando City’s <b>Joe Bendik </b>and Vancouver’s <b>David Ousted </b>– are on teams below the red line; 2015 saves leader <b>Josh Saunders </b>did so on a team that missed the postseason.) <br /><br />Goalkeeping stats always hinge on the team in front of the goalie, and it’s hard to isolate one over the other. (For what it’s worth, here’s <i>WhoScored’s </i><a href="https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/233/Tournaments/85/Seasons/6137/Stages/13276/PlayerStatistics/USA-Major-League-Soccer-2016" target="_blank">goalkeeper ranking</a>, which place Blake ninth in MLS this year, squarely in the middle of the curve.) <br /><br />Curtin’s praise, though, indicates that Blake fits the Union’s plan. As a keeper well shy of the age at which netminders peak, playing behind a defense 75 percent composed of young players, consistency will come with time, making some of the measurables appear more in line with the perceptions. <br /><br />But the tradeoff between potential and the present is one Curtin is willing to make. <br /><br />“His upside is incredibly high,” Curtin said. “He has played great for us. He’s won us games by himself. He’s made big saves. He’s worth a heck of a lot of points at the end of the day. It’s a position that I know is important and Andre’s done a great job for us.” http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/09/assessing-andre-praise-for-blake-as-he.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-6839189278135679993Sat, 27 Aug 2016 22:18:00 +00002016-08-27T18:26:53.880-04:00Brad DavisBrian CarrollFabian HerbersGraham ZusiIke OparaIlsinhoJim CurtinJosh YaroPhiladelphia UnionSporting Kansas CityUnion-Sporting Kansas City: Lineups and prematch thoughts<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Union (</b><i><b>4-2-3-1)&nbsp;</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Blake&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Fabinho-Marquez-Yaro-Rosenberry</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Creavalle-Bedoya&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Pontius-Barnetta-Herbers&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sapong&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bench</b><i>: McCarthy, Gaddis, Tribbett, Fernandes, Alberg, Restrepo, Davies&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Sporting KC (4-3-3)&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Kann&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Medranda-Besler-Opara/Abdul-Salaam&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Espinoza-Mustivar-Feilhaber&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Zusi-Dwyer-Peters&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Bench</b><i>: Kempin, Alvarado, Hallisey, Appiah, Nagamura, Davis, Rubio&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/sports/20160826/against-kc-union-aims-to-close-open-wounds" target="_blank">Preview</a>&nbsp;</i></div><br />- In naming an unchanged side from Wednesday’s win in Columbus, Union manager <b>Jim Curtin </b>again tries to strike the balance between consistency and squad rotation. His team is 3-0-2 in midweek MLS games this season, but 0-4-2 in weekend games immediately following those midweek affairs. If something changes, it’ll have to come from within this group, which includes a second straight start for <b>Fabian Herbers. </b>- It’s the third time this season that the Union’s set of three rookies all start, with <b>Josh Yaro </b>preferred to <b>Ken Tribbett </b>in central defense. <br /><br />- No surprise that <b>Ilsinho </b>(foot) and <b>Brian Carroll </b>(foot) remain out. Curtin said Friday they’re on pace for a return next weekend in Chicago. <br /><br />- SKC gets a little relief from its defensive injury backlog with <b>Ike Opara </b>back in central defense. That allows <b>Graham Zusi </b>to move back into midfield to cover for <b>Brad Davis, </b>who misses out. The front six is first-choice for SKC, but they are very thin on the bench and have an exploitable backline that the Union have to attack from the start. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/08/union-sporting-kansas-city-lineups-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-353466951251511185Fri, 26 Aug 2016 17:13:00 +00002016-08-26T13:13:06.232-04:002018 World Cup QualifyingAndre BlakeBethlehem SteelCory BurkeJamaican National TeamPhiladelphia UnionWorld Cup QualifyingBlake ready to go for do-or-die Jamaica qualifiers<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U5vlKdj2Vpo/V8B4Ke8gEPI/AAAAAAAAA_o/_LWQCqGE1dMhHSuue69ixJLbZfpthJp-QCLcB/s1600/AP_16234059191688.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U5vlKdj2Vpo/V8B4Ke8gEPI/AAAAAAAAA_o/_LWQCqGE1dMhHSuue69ixJLbZfpthJp-QCLcB/s400/AP_16234059191688.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Union goalie Andre Blake faces a tall task in Jamaica's two <br />World Cup qualifiers next week. (AP)</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The mandate for Jamaica and <b>Andre Blake </b>leaves no room for error. If the Reggae Boyz can’t return from Panama City Sept. 2 with some kind of result, their hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup will be dashed with two barren years to go. <br /><br />That’s the understanding Blake carries as he departs next week for the final two fixtures of the fourth round of CONCACAF qualifying. <br /><br />“It’s big games,” Blake said Friday after Philadelphia Union training. “I think the guys have been in this situation before. I don’t know what the result’s going to be, but I know for sure when it comes down to these situations, the guys go out and give their best. So hopefully their best will be good enough.” <br /><br />Jamaica is up against it. It sits third in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_CONCACAF_Fourth_Round" target="_blank">four-team Group B</a> with four points from four games. It finishes the six-game round robin Sept. 6 with a winnable game at home against bottom-dwellers Haiti. But that could be academic if it can’t eke out at least a draw against second place Panama (2-1-1, 7 points) in the opener. <br /><br />Only the top two in each of the three groups advance to the fifth round of qualifying, the Hexagonal. Costa Rica leads Group B with 10 points. <a name='more'></a><br />A summer after the Jamaicans made such noise in beating the United States and finishing second at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, bombing out of the World Cup so early would be disappointing. <br /><br />Blake, who was named to the roster Tuesday along with Bethlehem Steel forward <b>Cory Burke, </b>could have a big say in Jamaica’s ability to progress. The goalie’s next cap will be No. 13. He played all three group-stage games in Jamaica’s brief stay in this summer’s Copa America Centenario, in which Jamaica didn’t score a goal. <br /><br />They have only two goals in four World Cup qualifiers. Blake has been in net for the last three, all but the group opener last November in which <a href="http://www.concacaf.com/category/world-cup-qualifying-men/game-detail/225905" target="_blank">Panama upset Jamaica</a>, 2-0, in Kingston to put the Reggae Boyz’s backs against the wall. <br /><br />To put those struggles in the past, the latest <a href="http://www.jamaicafootballfederation.com/v1/?p=14745" target="_blank">23-man roster</a> must jell quickly. <br /><br />“The biggest thing is going to be for us to see how quickly we can get together and start forming that team chemistry,” Blake said. “The greatest thing is that the coach tries to be consistent with the players that come in, so at least it’s not playing with total strangers. So that’s good. We didn’t have a great Copa, so going into the World Cup qualifiers, we know what we have to do, and I don’t think the guys need more motivation. I think the guys know what they have to do.” <br /><br />Blake is one of nine MLS players on the roster and 12 American-based players. <br /><br />Blake has played all but one game for the Union this season, going 9-9-7 with five clean sheets, a 66.9 save percentage and 1.56 goals-against average. He’ll miss the Union’s trip to Chicago Sept. 3. <br /><br />“For me, as a professional, it’s about having a short-term memory obviously after you play a game, whether it’s good or bad,” Blake said. “You’re going to assess the game and see what you need to change, but for me, confidence is good going in.” <br /><br />Burke, 24, would be in line for his first cap, perhaps a testament for the team’s desperate need for offense. <a href="http://www.uslsoccer.com/roster_players/12486623?subseason=280291" target="_blank">Acquired from</a> Rivoli United on loan in the offseason, the 6-foot-2 forward has scored four goals and one assist in 16 games with Steel. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/08/blake-ready-to-go-for-do-or-die-jamaica.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7179119151792620833.post-3517005006563588426Fri, 19 Aug 2016 18:18:00 +00002016-08-19T14:20:15.726-04:00Alejandro BedoyaBrian CarrollCharlie DaviesChris PontiusCJ SapongDrew MoorEarnie StewartJim CurtinJozy AltidoreJustin MorrowMaurice EduMichael BradleyPhiladelphia UnionToronto FCOh, say can you see the Union's new approachSomething unusual will happen Saturday evening when the Philadelphia Union host Toronto FC at Talen Energy Stadium: Of the 22 players chosen to start the game, nearly half will have experience playing for the U.S. National Team. And for once, the Union will actually contribute significantly to that tally. <br /><br />The Union’s summer dealings can be characterized by many lenses. But one is the acquisition of players in <b>Alejandro Bedoya </b>and <b>Charlie Davies, </b>who’ve represented the U.S. internationally. <br /><br />And so Saturday, using the Union and Toronto rosters, you can cobble together a fairly cogent starting XI of fully capped American internationals. <br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="500" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://lineupbuilder.com/350x500/?p=11&amp;a=40402&amp;t=&amp;c=dc0000&amp;1=GK_Bono__388_174&amp;2=DL_Pontius__317_64&amp;3=DCL_Moor__327_138&amp;4=DCR_Edu__327_211&amp;5=DR_Morrow__317_284&amp;6=MLA_Bedoya__204_64&amp;7=MCL_Bradley__222_138&amp;8=MCR_Carroll__222_211&amp;9=MRA_Sapong__204_284&amp;10=FCL_Davies__98_138&amp;11=FCR_Altidore__98_211&amp;c2=ffffff&amp;c3=ffffff&amp;output=embed" width="350"></iframe> <br /><br />There’s some fudging position-wise. <b>Chris Pontius </b>is included, and while he has never appeared for the U.S., he’s <a href="http://www.dcunited.com/post/2011/08/29/chris-pontius-called-us-men%E2%80%99s-national-team" target="_blank">twice been invited to camps</a> and traveled internationally without getting in a game, and it’s reasonable to assume that had he not experienced such bad injury luck, he’d have that cap by now. (Consider this the start of the campaign for Pontius to play the role <b>Ethan Finlay </b>did at January camp and beyond last year.) There’s also no capped goalie, but <b>Alex Bono, </b>the former Reading United player, has played for the U.S. Under-18 team, so he’ll do. <br /><br />The spine of the team is formidable. It features, when healthy, the U.S.’s top striker for the next World Cup cycle <b>(Jozy Altidore), </b>its captain (<b>Michael Bradley</b>) and arguably one of the first two or three names coach <b>Jurgen Klinsmann </b>pencils into the lineup in Bedoya. <br /><br />That isn’t a bad team, if you could swap a forward for a truer fullback. It’s certainly a darn good one from a marketing standpoint, and it reveals a point about the Union’s direction.<br /><a name='more'></a> <br /><br />The club has struggled for years to force its players into national-team relevance. <b>Maurice Edu’s</b> cap against Mexico <a href="http://ussoccerplayers.com/player/edu-maurice" target="_blank">in April 2014</a> remains the only active Union player to appear for the national team. <b>Jack McInerney </b>and <b>Jeff Parke </b>were <a href="http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20130627/NEWS/306279940" target="_blank">called into camps</a> while members of the Union, and several Americans came to the Union (<b>Freddy Adu, Chris Albright, </b>Parke, <b>Danny Califf, Conor Casey, Justin Mapp, </b>and <b>Michael Orozco, </b>plus current players <b>Brian Carroll, CJ Sapong, </b>Bedoya and Davies) with caps, some in the distant past. <br /><br />Now, the Union possess one U.S. regular (Bedoya) plus two players (<a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/04/13/twellman-union-striker-cj-sapong-deserves-us-national-team-consideration" target="_blank">Sapong</a> and <a href="http://sbisoccer.com/2016/08/chris-pontius-leading-charge-as-union-build-american-foundation" target="_blank">Pontius</a>) whose stocks are rising. <br /><br />The Union are also, surprisingly, among the MLS leaders in national-team categories. They are tied with five teams (D.C. United, L.A. Galaxy, San Jose, Seattle and Sporting Kansas City) for the most capped U.S. internationals on a roster at five. They trail only Toronto in the East and are sixth in MLS in both combined U.S. national team caps (126) and international goals (7, tied with SKC). <br /><br />It all boils down to what <b>Earnie Stewart </b>said when he took the job. The decorated former American captain (101 caps, 17 goals) wanted to give something back to American soccer. Manager <b>Jim Curtin </b>has always discussed building locally, with the “home” in “Homegrown” projecting as narrow as the Delaware Valley or as broad as the U.S. <br /><br />The Union are succeeding with that aim. Saturday’s lineup in New England, for instance, <a href="http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-08-13-new-england-revolution-vs-philadelphia-union/lineup" target="_blank">featured seven American starters</a> out of 11. They’ve gone as high as eight Americans <a href="http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-05-28-colorado-rapids-vs-philadelphia-union/lineup" target="_blank">in the May 28 lineup</a> at Colorado. <br /><br />Marketing appeal aside, the Union are doing what Stewart promised: They’re forging an identity. It comes at a cost, though perhaps not the loftiest one compared to some international salaries in MLS. And it has the advantage of being red, white and blue. http://uniontally.blogspot.com/2016/08/oh-say-can-you-see-unions-new-approach.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matthew De George)0